Pray for, flee from, draw near.

1 Peter 1:13-16    Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior ; 16 because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

What are you still hanging onto? What in your life is your vice? What do you still have that is your escape, your go-to, your idol that you place above your Lord Jesus Christ? These are battles that we surely face early in our new found life as a Christian. All these old habits that are still there, but now the convictions of these sins now are painfully evident. The Lord may have miraculously healed you from a demon of sin at your conversion, but there is also the process of Sanctification that is not so instantaneous. This is where God begins to prick on those things you hold dear, those things that you hold above him. This sanctification process will continue for your life as a Christian; the more your hearts desire to become a disciple, the more pricks God shows you. You will never attain perfection, but his goal with you is to conform you into the image of his Son.

Are those secret sins holding you back form drawing closer to your God? Surely they are! What does this passage above command? “Be Holy for I am holy!” God knows your heart. God knows what you are hiding, God even knows if you are truly trying. Set down that sin and pray for the strength only found in Him to never pick it up again; to never think those thoughts again; to never put it before him again as any crutch in your life. Colossians 3:23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men. You are not alone in this battle; Satan wants to convince you that you are. Do not let him deceive you.

I can promise you that when you begin to set down your crutches in life, your feel good sedatives, that you will draw closer to God. When you truly desire to flee any sin or idol that God has pointed out to you, he is showing you what it takes to draw closer to him. It is a divide that must be crossed to move forward in your relationship with your Savior. Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Pray for, flee from, draw near.