Ho Ho Conscious

I no longer buy sweet treats and bring them home, because I have learned that if they aren’t in the house, I can’t eat them.  But my husband likes treats.  This has led us to develop The Rule:  If my husband brings any sweet treats into the house, I can’t know about them or where they are located.  Recently my husband purchased some Ho Ho’s while he was out.  I was helping put away groceries and unfortunately spotted them in the Wal-Mart bag in the back of the van.  As I finished putting away the groceries, I realized I had not come across the Ho Ho’s.  I asked him where they were, and he gave in and told me his hiding place for them.  So, naturally I had Ho Ho’s on my mind.  The more I told myself I wouldn’t eat a Ho Ho, the more I wanted one!  You might say I was Ho Ho – Conscious.  (In case you don’t know, Ho Ho’s are little, rolled chocolate cakes with cream inside, then dipped in chocolate.)

It’s similar to being conscious of our sin due to the law.  The bible says that the law made us to know sin (Rom 7:7).  Before the law, sin was not being imputed unto us (put to our account) (Rom 5:13).  But when the law came, people were held to a standard.  Of course, the whole purpose of the law was to show us that we can never attain that standard and we need a savior.  (I also believe another purpose of the law was to preserve a virgin for when it was time for Jesus to be conceived, but that’s a different topic altogether!)  However, we (who are in Christ) are no longer relating to God by the law, but by grace (Rom 6:14).  Yet, so many Christians are sin-conscious (like I was Ho Ho conscious).  Hebrews chapter 10 deals with the topic of sin-consciousness.  To summarize, the writer contrasts the Law’s inability to cleanse the conscience from sin with Christ’s once-for-all-time sacrifice, which does cleanse us, conscience included, from sin.  The chapter goes on to state that we can draw near and have our hearts cleansed from an evil conscience, which is sin-consciousness!

Do you often find yourself thinking of your failures and mistakes?  If so, meditate on the truths presented in Hebrews chapter 10.  God has provided a way for you to be free from being sin-conscious.  Instead, God wants you to be conscious of your righteousness in Christ! (2 Cor 5:21)  Yes, God sees you as He sees His son Jesus!  Sin-consciousness more easily leads to sinful actions. (For the record, before the day was done I ate a Ho Ho.)  Righteous-consciousness more easily leads to righteous actions.  The law made sin come alive (Rom 7:9), but we are no longer under the law!  We who are in Christ have been made new creations (2 Cor 5:17) and we don’t need to focus on our failures, but rather our position of righteousness in Christ. 

P.S. Believers are in Christ and no longer relate to God through the law.  However, the law can be used to show those outside of Christ that they will never measure up to the standard and they need a savior.  The law can be used to show them their need for Jesus.

image: Arvind Balaraman/freedigitalphotos.net