Romans 6:12-14

            There’s tension in the air as the cowboy lowers himself into the shute. He knows he has drawn the biggest, meanest bull at the rodeo. The crowd knows it too. He hears the announcer tell them so. He tries not to listen, tries to concentrate on the details of getting ready to ride. He succeeds. Time stops. The bull erupts into the open arena and for those eight long seconds, all the cowboy’s years of training and practice fall into a pattern that has become second nature. At the end of eight seconds he’s a hero. He has done what few will attempt and landed without a scratch.

            What makes a man think he can best a beast ten times his weight and strength? He believes he can do it because he has worked at developing the skills and he has paid his dues. The spectators haven’t seen all that has gone before. They aren’t aware of the scars, the broken bones, the cracked ribs, the gallons of lineament rubbed into swollen joints and torn muscles. The cowboy who has ridden an animal that could kill him has seen years of trial and error, years of being thrown off, years of watching and listening to other riders. By the time that cowboy lowers himself onto the biggest, meanest bull in the rodeo, he knows he has everything he needs to do it – the skill and the courage. That assurance can lead him to victory.

            Every Christian has been given what is needed to overcome sin. There are no dues to pay, no injuries to suffer through. Someone else has done all that. Jesus paid the price for us. Once we have accepted that fact, our struggle is not how to overcome sin, but how to live as though we already have.  The Apostle Paul wrote  – “you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority” (Colossians 2:10). He goes further in Romans 6:12-14 – “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires … for sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” Unlike that cowboy, we don’t rely on our own skill and courage. We rely on the grace and mercy of God.

            The cowboy knows he can do it. Do you?