To whom are you offering yourself to?

Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of that one you obey—either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness? (Romans 6:16)

As I read today’s story, I thought about these words from Paul. The Israelites offered themselves to the gods of the nations, including the gods of the Ammonites and the Philistines.

Why? We don’t know. But perhaps they thought they would find freedom and happiness in doing so. But instead, they found bondage and misery to the Ammonites and Philistines.

We may think they were foolish. But how often do we abandon God and his ways? Rather, we pursue this world’s gods of success, sex, money, and things. We think by doing so, we’ll find freedom and happiness.

But then we find out that the things that promised us freedom and happiness actually end up enslaving us and destroying us. Instead of joy and life, we find shame, misery, and ultimately death.

So let us heed the words of Paul.

For just as you offered the parts of yourselves as slaves to impurity, and to greater and greater lawlessness, so now offer them as slaves to righteousness, which results in sanctification…

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (19, 23)