Stop flipping the coin

Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. (Romans 6:2-4)

Can we continue...pretty pointed words, aren't they? We 'can' continue, but do we 'want' to continue? That is probably the most accurate way to say it. We might not believe it, but the 'bond' to sin has been broken when we said 'yes' to Jesus. The 'desire' remains, causing us much difficulty at times. We know the right words to say, but the wrong ones make it past our lips. We know the right actions to take, but we drag our feet. We understand right from wrong, but we lean to the wrong side of the decisions just a little too frequently. The struggle is real, but there is always another choice to be made - to live in a power not our own.

Since we have died to sin - past tense. Now we also may live new lives - present tense. It is the 'in between' tense that gives us all the trouble, isn't it? We get mired in the way we chose to live 'in the past' and we want to plunge head-long into how we are called to live 'in the present', but we actually live 'somewhere in between'. We don't always make wise choices - mostly because we haven't figured out how to live 'in present tense' yet! We died - past tense. We were buried with Christ - past tense. As Christ was raised by God's power, we can live in this 'new tense'. 

If we don't have it all figured out yet, it is okay. We don't have to understand grace fully to walk inside its protection. We don't have to always feel God's power at work within us to know it is working. We might just find ourselves relying a bit too much on the 'feeling' of power rather than trusting in the 'presence' of power. When we don't 'feel it', we don't always think it is working within us, but God doesn't always have to be 'felt' to be deeply at work within. It is the 'now' we need to focus on - NOW we MAY live new lives. It is a moment-by-moment choice. 

We MAY do a whole lot of things but choosing the right side of the 'MAY coin' is important. We "MAY" choose to live according to the old way of life, or we "MAY" choose to live under the authority of Christ and the power of his presence within us. Some of us live life like it is a coin-toss. It isn't! There is only one side to the 'coin' - Christ. There is no 'tails' side to this 'coin'. Truth is, we need to stop 'flipping the coin' and just lean into his presence and power within. As soon as we do, we might just find the "NOW" is a whole lot easier. Just sayin!