Have you ever been so used to something that you’ve found yourself doing it without even thinking? I can drive home from work while deep in thought and suddenly, when I look up, I’m in my garage. I’ve driven that route so many times that it has become second nature. I’m comfortable doing it, and it’s no trouble at all.
Sometimes, we tend to get comfortable with our sins. I know that there are times when I feel very comfortable looking down on people – as a matter of fact, it’s all too easy for me to judge others. Sometimes I do it without even thinking. You see, it is in my nature. We are all born into sinfulness.
God’s Word concerning our sins is clear: “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus.” (Acts 3:19-20 ESV)
As we begin this Lenten journey, let’s strive to get uncomfortable with our sins, whatever they may be. This season offers us an opportunity to pause, reflect, repent, and turn back to the Lord. For me, that means making myself a bit uncomfortable each and every day. It means getting uncomfortable with the way I’ve always done things, and the way I’m inclined to think and act. It means getting into a habit of confessing my shortcomings to myself and to God, and crying out for His forgiveness. It’s asking Him to hold my hand and guide me on the better path.
Despite our best intentions, we’ll never fully rid ourselves of that old nature. Yet, while we are still drowning in our complacency, God steps in to offer His mercy through Jesus Christ. As we embark on this journey toward the cross, we recognize that we are too comfortable with our own sins. We repent daily, and we move forward together, fully dependent upon God’s grace.
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:1-8 ESV)
