“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.” Romans 7:15-20 NIV
My dad was a railroad man, so when I see C&O I automatically think about the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (now CTX). Some of you may even be reminded of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, a national park.
Regardless, today’s devotional concerns sin, which is usually not a comfortable topic for discussion. Do you know that all sins can be categorized as one of two types: sins of commission and sins of omission? I refer to them as the C&O we should recognize in our own lives.
Sins of commission are the sins we know not to do, but we commit them anyway. Think about the Ten Commandments and others mentioned in the Bible. If we violate a commandment–and I feel all of us have if we’re honest with ourselves–these are the big sins for which we’ll receive full credit.
The sins of omission are trickier. They occur when we fail to do good when the opportunity arises. For example, if your neighbor is hungry because of some inability to feed himself, and you know his condition and have the ability of helping but you decide to not do so, that’s a sin of omission.
The scripture is from Paul. I think everyone of us can identify with it. I confess that I struggle with sins of both commission and omission. Does it mean we’re failures? Absolutely not! It means we’re human and have a natural tendency to sin. The great news is that we have an intermediary who paid the price for all our sins–every single one of them. That’s not just good news–that’s great news!
Have you thanked Jesus today for taking your sins?
Prayer: Thank you, Jesus, for Your tremendous obedience by being sacrificed with extraordinary torture and death on the cross for me! Your love is incredible, and I worship you as Lord of my life. Amen