1 Samuel 12:23 (NIV) “As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right.”

When we think about how we should be living our lives as followers of Christ, we usually think of the things that we shouldn't be doing because they are either sinful or can lead us into sin. It takes us a while to learn that we can't overcome our sinful nature by our own efforts and that it takes power to overcome sin in our lives. Once we surrender our lives completely to Christ Jesus and seek to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16), we begin to live victorious lives. We stay clear of those things that we know as being sinful and even learn to stay away from things that are not sinful in and of themselves, but that can lead to sin.

While it is good to be able to walk upright lives by the strength that God provides, we many times forget that there is more to godly living than staying away from sin. We usually concentrate on what we shouldn’t do while forgetting that we can sin by not doing things that we should do. In the passage of scripture above, the Prophet Samuel was rebuking the people for having asked for a king like the nations around them had. Samuel had told them that God was their King, but they wanted an earthly king. He warned the people that an earthly king would bring trouble for them in many ways, but they refused to listen and still demanded a king. So Samuel prayed to the Lord and the Lord gave them a king. At the end of his ministry and after they had their king (King Saul), Samuel pointed out to the people that they had done an evil thing to ask for a king since by doing so they rejected God as their King. The people finally came to their senses and realized what they had done and then asked Samuel to pray to the Lord on their behalf. Samuel’s response was sobering. He said that he would never sin by not praying for them.

Have you ever thought of not praying for people as sin, whether it be people that you love or that you know have a need? Have you thought of the fact that you can sin against the Lord by not doing certain things? Obviously, not praying is sin. I would add to that the sinful act of not reading your Bible. When you don’t read it, you are rejecting the words that God has given us so that we can know how to live lives that please Him. It’s like saying that you are not interested in what God has to say. In addition to this, wasn’t it the things that the "goats" didn’t do that caused Jesus to call them “cursed ones” while telling them to depart from Him (Matthew 25:41-43)? They didn’t care for others and that was such a great sin that it got them banished from God's presence.

Let’s not just watch out for what we’re doing, but let’s also be diligent about what we should do. The secret to not having to worry about what we are doing or not doing is giving Jesus the control of your life. Once He has control and you begin to walk in the Spirit, you will do what you should do and stay away from things that shouldn’t be done. It’s Christ in you that is your hope for a blessed life. Let’s remember to do the good things that the Lord prompts us to do to stay on the road to righteousness!

Pastor Joey Vazquez