Wake Up, Throw Off, and Put On

Romans 13:11-13:14

Introduction

It was 5:30AM and the alarm had just elevated its piercing voice and shook me out of my sleep and slumber. I really didn’t feel like getting up that morning. I mean I really wanted to steal a few more moments of blissful unconsciousness. It was one of those days where we had plenty to do. It was one of those days where we had to get up, pack the car, and get out on the road. You see it was time to take that long trek to see family members in a far away town. But like any trip, it required preparation. We had a lot to do. In fact, we had to do some things that we normally wouldn’t do at 5:30 in the morning. Because of this realization, I simply hit the snooze button every 15 minutes to prolong the sleep, but also the agony of realizing that I was stealing more and more time away from the preparations that needed to be done. However I promised myself that after this time hitting the snooze I would get up.

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Do You Want Victory?

We often lose in our battle because we don't really want to win.  We talk about desiring victory over sin, but we keep the emblems of sin around, "just in case."  Sure we want victory, just not the victory that requires sacrifice.  We want the victory that doesn't require giving up anything.  We want an easy victory

Romans 6:11 gives us the key to victory.  It is a key that is not easy.  It is not what we want to hear.  But it is simply to "reckon" or "consider" yourself dead to sin.  This is a very interesting image.  Reckon yourself dead to sin.  How does one do that?  You do that by simply treating yourself as if you already have the victory.  This is not to say that you will not fall again.  You probably will.  But what it does say is that you are not aiding the enemy in your defeat.

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