For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.

— Psalm 84:11

He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?

— Romans 8:32

All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation

— 2 Corinthians 5:18

I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.

— John 15:5

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

— Proverbs 14:12

13 Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.

14 But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it.

— Matthew 7:13-14

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace, mercy and love from Christ to you.

Unfortunately, the autonomy sin craves promises satisfaction that never materializes. We believe the lie that God unfairly withholds what we desire. We think running from God will expand our horizons, reveal our identity, and inaugurate our freedom. Instead of satisfaction, we find dead ends that lead to insatiable longing. Rather than find authenticity, we lose identity. We experience sin’s bondage, not freedom. Without a restored relationship with our Creator, we cannot fulfill our purpose.

“Gave them over” is a Greek legal expression for handing the guilty over to receive their sentence. God gives people over to the consequences of their rebellion. When God releases sinners toward their sinful desires, they do not drift off like an object in space without gravity. Instead, they tumble downward like glass, getting cracked and chipped and ultimately shattered along the way. The path away from God will always careen downward to destruction. Humanity’s progressive decline turns into increasing brokenness. Apart from God, sin ravages people without mercy at all and nonstop.