Gravity

“We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:14-25 NIV)

Gravity is a frustrating thing sometimes.  Even though it keeps my feet firmly on the ground, it can be annoying, like when my phone slides off the car seat onto the floorboard while I’m driving around a sharp curve. Or when my towel falls off the elliptical machine during a workout. Or when, as I mentioned yesterday, I tip my salad bowl and the oily contents fall into my lap. On this planet, gravity is an unbending law and I experience it every day.

In many ways, sin is like gravity.  It’s often annoying.  You get that sense of frustration from Paul.  “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”  No matter how hard he tries, he can’t avoid the impact of sin in his life.  It’s always there ready to pull him down.  Like gravity.

While we are in this world, there is no getting around sin.  It is as much of a law as is gravity.  We live with its effects every day of our lives. Daily it seeks to drag us down and our natural bent is to let it.  This is why for the vast majority sin goes unnoticed.  It is the natural way of things.  Like gravity, you don’t really think about it until it annoys you.

But once you decide to follow Jesus, you realize, like an astronaut blasting into space, what a powerful force you are seeking to evade. Suddenly, you feel the resistance, the pull back to where you came from.  It may take a few days or weeks after your decision, during which you may have that feeling of “weightlessness,” where the burdens of sin seemingly have been lifted off of you, but that won’t last long.  Sooner than later the pull of sin will seek to bring you down.

It can be a very discouraging experience and realization—that sin is not so easily left behind.  As a NASA rocket must be powerful to break the force of gravity to reach orbit, so do we need a powerful force to break away from the grip of sin.  As Paul gratefully acknowledges, that force is God and the means He uses to set us free is Jesus.  Sheer willpower will never do.  Only divine power is strong enough.

Like gravity, sin is a part of this world.  It’s presence is all around us and unavoidable.  While we are not strong enough to resist its pull, there is One who is.  He is our only hope to escape its grip.  Today and every day, when you feel the pull of sin, cry out to Jesus for help.  He will rescue you and keep you from being pulled back down.

© Jim Musser 2017