Mercy is Patient

Using the reality of your sin to drive you to Jesus. 

By: Jordan Sparnroft

Recently, my sin has been my inspiration for my quiet time. I recently went on a 10-day long vacation to Europe and - in stereotypical female fashion - I overpacked and had no room for my Bible and journal. For ten days I went without intentional time with God, and it showed. For me, my sin shows up when I speak. The things that were pouring out of my heart were not from God and most certainly did not reflect His image and love. 

I could’ve easily viewed my sin as a deterrent for spending time with God; feelings of failure and wanting to clean myself up before coming to Him were tempting. But as I’ve learned over and over again, this is exactly what Satan uses to keep us uninspired and disinterested in spending time with Him. Satan wants to keep us thinking that our salvation is dependent on us and not on Jesus. 

As soon as I got home, I came running to His presence and His word looking for correction, mercy, and transformation into someone more and more like Him and less like old-nature-me. The sin was heavy and I needed to lay it down and receive the mercy He had waiting for me. I needed scripture right in front of my eyeballs and ingrained into the depths of my heart. The conviction of my sin led me to freedom in His presence alone. 

If you’re planning a Christmas vacation, pack your Bible and prioritize time with Him even if it’s for 5 minutes. I found plenty of opportunities to post pictures and scroll my phone when I had Wi-Fi and hours to spend in a car or on planes. I could have easily spent some of that time looking at my Bible App’s verse of the day and praying. 

More importantly, when you feel the weight of your sin and the temptation to avoid God, don’t let your sin keep you from spending time with Jesus! Instead, allow your sin to remind you of your desperate need to spend time with Him. Jesus is full of compassion, great in mercy, and readily transforms all who come to Him in humble repentance.