Inch by inch, row by row

Thursday September 1st, Romans 7: 24I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question? 25The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different. While we are in the midst of try to make things right we discover that Christ is right there with us to set us right with God. So does that mean that I can just give up and do whatever I want? Yes, you can, and Jesus will still love you. The problem is that bit by bit, inch by inch, all that other stuff draws us away until we find ourselves where we don’t care. In C. S. Lewis’ Screwtape letters, the devil lets the minor demon know that the way to succeed is to slowly draw people away, letting them think they are doing good until they find themselves where they reject God. He knew God would never reject them. It may sound stupid, but the trouble is that it works.