I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate......I can will what is right, but I cannot do it......Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
Written by St. Paul (Romans 7)
As part of my effort to become more acquainted with the history of the United States and the world, I have been reading a book entitled The First World War by an author named John Keegan. The "Great War", as World War I used to be referred to before the start of the Second World War, ended over one hundred years ago. Hence, we do not hear much about the First World War anymore, nor does it come up very often in casual conversation these days.
For the past month, I have been captivated by the Great War, and I have delighted in reading Keegan's book about it. The opening sentence of the book is quite poignant—Keegan writes: "The First World War was a tragic and unnecessary conflict." As I read the accounts about the various terrifying battles of the war and the immense loss of life in the remainder of the book's 427 pages, again and again I found myself drawn back to that sentence which opened the book: the entire conflict we call World War I was both tragic and unnecessary!
When I think of Keegan's analysis, I couldn't help but think of the various ‘conflicts’ that have emerged during my own life over the years due to foolish decisions I have made along the way. I think it would be safe to say that Keegan's opening line would apply to most of the conflicts that have occurred in my life: "When Mike Zaske did this ________________ (fill in the blank), it brought about a tragic and unnecessary conflict."
But that's the nature of sin, as sin always leads to tragic and unnecessary conflicts in our lives. If you don't believe me, try purposely breaking a few of the Ten Commandments and see what happens. No doubt, you will find that the results will be tragic and unnecessary.
It would seem logical, since we know that sin always leads to tragic and unnecessary conflicts, that we should simply stop sinning. Problem solved, right? If only it were that easy. As St. Paul wrote in the quote above, we cannot stop doing those things we know will lead only to heartache for us by our own efforts, even when we know the consequences. We can be warned a million times, and yet our will ultimately isn't strong enough to resist. Our only hope lies outside of ourselves—the only way sin can be overcome in our lives is if somebody will rescue us from ourselves.
Such a "rescuer" exists! His coming, in fact, was predicted long ago by the prophets. When this rescuer arrived on the scene, he came in a way that nobody expected: he was born to a poor peasant girl in a humble cowshed…he slept in a feed-trough…he was brought up in a little, out-of-the way place not much bigger than the town of Wasioja…he was brutally murdered on an instrument of torture called a cross, a death he stated was for the forgiveness of sins…and he was raised from the dead to new and everlasting life.
This rescuer is Jesus. And he is the only one who can rescue us from our tragic and unnecessary conflicts. Please welcome him into your heart this Christmas.
