Doomed to fail!!

This is the time of year when anyone who’s made a New Year’s resolution starts to wonder how long it will last (if it hasn’t already been broken!).

In life we often have great plans to be amazing people.  After a sermon that hits us right where we are sinning we might vow to be ‘better’, to be less impatient, to be more honest.  A matter of hours after that resolution or vow to try harder, we can break it, flying off the handle at a slow car on the road and breaking our attempt at patience.

The Old Testament is basically a tale of human failure: we see prophets, kings & ordinary humans crumbling as they try to keep the law.  God must’ve looked down as he saw the weakness and failure and sighed in despair.

The truth is that we can’t do it on our own.  In our own strength we are doomed to failure!  If we want to be more forgiving, more loving or more patient we actually can’t.  When i forgive someone it is not me doing it but Jesus living in me.  All these things we aspire to we cannot do, but Jesus in us can.

Jesus came to abolish the law in one sense because we in our flesh couldn’t stick to it.  Through the cross a helper was sent to us, one who can enable us to stick to the path of right living – the Holy Spirit.

Let’s through out muscular faith and trying to be good in our own strength because it will end in failure; let’s ask the Holy Spirit to enter in afresh this day and do in us what we cannot ourselves.