attached to strings

^19 I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. ^20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. ^21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! ^22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. ^23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Ro 6:19-23., NIV)

Trapped

Controlled

tied up

forced

Confined

Enclosed

What our sin does to us.

Masters us, controls us, traps us.

^14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. (Ro 6:14., NIV)

God's answer.  Grace.

I don't like the feeling of being trapped.  I don't like feeling controlled by sin.  Sometimes I don't like who I am.  I don't like feeling numb.  

When I'm in control it's not good; when God is in control I make progress.

Either attached to sin or attached to God, that's what we are.

Attached to sin leads to death, attached to God leads to life.

This is a daily process.  None of us are going to get it right daily.  We are all attached to strings.  Sometimes we have strings that are attached to sin that are pulling us in one direction, and God has the strings pulling us in the other direction.  We are in this battle every single day of our lives.  Somedays Sin wins and somedays God wins.  In this journey of life that we are on the idea is that each day we should be getting closer to God and each day we should find ourselves with God willing the battle more.  His strings lead to freedom.  Sounds strange doesn't it.  Our image of Him controlling us makes it seem like maybe He is our puppet master.  Not so, He cuts the strings that are attached to sin, and gives us freedom.  Freedom to follow Him.  You choose, you decide.

Every day that sin wins we die a little inside.  Every day that God wins we learn to live better, to live life to the fullest.

So who wins today?