Rest From Good Intentions – August 3, 2023

For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.
Romans 7:18,19

Rest From Good Intentions

It happened again, didn’t it? The thing that you have been struggling with. The thing that you promised yourself you were not going to do again. Maybe you got drunk. Perhaps you let yourself worry away a few hours rather than pray for strength. It could be that you visited that same website or caught yourself cursing at work.

We always have such good intentions. We have sins that we do not want to repeat. We want to do the right thing and intend to make positive changes in our lives. But we so often fail to make those changes. It has been said the road to heaven is not paved with good intentions. We are not saved because we mean well. We won’t go to heaven simply because we want to do the right thing. In fact, we cannot be saved by anything we can do.

We are saved only because of Jesus. Jesus, true God and true man, is the only one who always did the right thing. The only one who never once thought about doing the right thing, only to fail and fall into sin. In fact, the Bible tells us that Jesus never sinned even one time! And at the end of that perfect life in our place, Jesus gave his life on the cross to set us free from sin.

The road to heaven is not paved with our good intentions but with the perfect life and innocent death of Jesus. It has been washed clean by his blood. Through faith in Jesus, we have been placed on the road to heaven. Jesus forgives our sins and gives us strength for our daily struggles.

Prayer:
Dear Jesus, help me to find comfort today, not in my good intentions, but in your life and death for me. When I struggle with right and wrong, give me the strength to live for you. Amen.