Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:19-23, NIV).
Several years ago, I decided to take some classes towards a Certificate in Accounting, the field in which I work. It was hard taking classes and also working full-time, but I enjoyed the challenge. In accounting, one of the things you learn about is something called “cost/benefit analysis,” a tool used to determine the value of an expenditure. Put simply, does the benefit of an action or purchase outweigh the cost?
If we make poor choices in using our resources in business, we may find ourselves out of business, or worse, in bankruptcy court! Life is the same way. If we make good choices, we prosper, and if we make poor choices, we may find ourselves spiritually bankrupt. The verse above is a spiritual cost/benefit analysis. Was the benefit we reaped worth the cost? Or was the cost of sin much too high?
We all have the option of free will in our lives. Will we be slaves to sin, or slaves to righteousness that leads to eternal life?
We become the slave of whatever we choose to obey. We can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or we can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living (Romans 6:16, NIV).
Lord, help us to see through Your eyes and to always weigh our actions against Your Word so that we might not sin against You, Lord. Thank You that we have Your Word and the Holy Spirit living in us to guide us in all things and into all truth. Keep up always in Your sight, Lord. Amen.
