Burning the Scrolls of Sin

Acts 19:19–22

“A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. In this way the Word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power. After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must visit Rome also.” He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer.”

No matter how costly and dear to us, we lay our old lives at the feet of our King Jesus Christ! Let Him give us better riches, renewed loves, purified desires, and a brand new heart of flesh. He tells us, “I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances (Eze 36:25–27).” And here we see a glorious expression of faith amongst new believers, burning the symbols of their old lives and even perhaps shedding away their sinful means of living for Christ, for they considered it all worthless trash, “because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, for whose sake,” they may have lost all things that they may gain Christ (Phil 3:8). Nothing compares to knowing Jesus and His Kingdom. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and in his joy he went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. When he found one very precious pearl, he went away and sold all he had and bought it (Matt 13:44–46).” In Our Daily Bread the other day, the writer tells us, “nothing this world has to offer us—even very good things—fully satisfies us. There is a measure of enjoyment in them, but our happiness soon fades away (I John 2:17). Indeed, “God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from Himself,” C. S. Lewis concluded. “There is no such thing.” Following the Lord may cost us some things, and to many, many dear things and even connected to sin, for it has enslaved us. However, take heart, the Living Life writer reminds us, “while it may not be easy, we can be encouraged as we remember that there is no chain that is unbreakable because Christ has indeed set us free from the slavery of sin. Though it may seem painful and costly to rid ourselves of sin, we can rest assured that nothing is more valuable than the salvation that God has given us through Jesus Christ.”