I’ve been thinking about the verse from John 8:34 and decided to do a little more research, and I found a fascinating commentary about it I wanted to share with you today. Let’s dive a little deeper into the subject – the burden of sin.
If you recall, the verse from John 8:34 said this, “Jesus answered them, “This is the truth I tell you – everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.”
Commentary from my college book:
“Sometimes when a man is rebuked for doing something wrong or warned against such a thing, his answer is, “Surely I can do what I like with my own life.” But the point is that the man who sins does not do what he likes: he does what sin likes. A man can let a habit get such a grip on him that he cannot break it. He can allow pleasure to master him so completely that he cannot do without it.
He can let some self-indulgence so dominate him that he is powerless to break away from it. He can get into such a state that in the end, as Seneca said, he hates and loves his sins at one and the same time. So far from doing what he likes, the sinner has lost the power to do what he likes. He is a slave to the habits, the self-indulgences, the wrong pleasures which have mastered him. This is precisely Jesus’ point. No man who sins can ever be said to be free.”
This goes for ladies too.
How many people do we know in and around our lives who are a slave to some sin that has mastered them and they have tried repeatedly to break free? The burden of sin is real.
Just visit a bookstore some time, and you’ll get an idea of how many things society struggles with today. Listen to talk shows and watch television shows, and you’ll get a good idea of what society struggles with today. We are all part of society unless we live in a commune somewhere.
Let’s pray.
Oh, heavenly Father, we all know someone. Some may know that person very intimately, so intimately they see that person’s reflection in the mirror, and they don’t like what they see. Lord, with you, we can do anything, but we have to want to try. We have to want to take the first step. Lord, please help us to get control over the burden of sin in our lives. Please help us to gain the strength to take a stand against the sin that is mastering our lives. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
Blessings!
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