Giving God complete control
“Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me. “When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and in order. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before... Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.” Luke 11:23-26, 28
From the text, God gave a stern warning that everyone should not ignore. When life is void of His presence, it will be an easy target to Satan. You become powerless to get rid of sinful habits. The tendency is to revert back to those habits that are not pleasing to God. You might be able to replace some old habits yet you won’t be able to get rid completely of the power that could enslave you and prevent you from living the life God wants you to have. It is only by His cleansing that you could be freed from the power of sin. As the Bible described, people are attempting to cleanse themselves by offering sacrifices and yet they will not satisfy. They do this repeatedly year after year but still will not satisfy God’s requirement for forgiveness. “The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared” (Hebrews 10:1-2). It was only through the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ that cleansing and forgiveness could be obtained. “With his (Christ) own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever” (Hebrews 9:12). it is one thing to be resolved to do better but it is another thing to let Christ take hold of your life. It is one thing to try to control your life by your own strength and it is another thing to let Christ take over your life and have the enemy’s control vanquished. God promised that once you let Him control your life, He will bring you to the path of holiness. “For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time” (Hebrews 10:10). So do not take for granted what Christ has done on your behalf instead draw yourself to His throne of grace and ask Him to lead you in living the life He gave you. “So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised” (Hebrews 10:35-36).
Blessings.
