Reckon

The verse here (Romans 6:11:) has an interesting word in it.  "Reckon" is not a term we use on a regular basis; at least I don't!  When I hear it, I think of Jed Clampett, from the Beverly Hillbillies.  I can see him standing next to his "cement pond" (pronounced SEE-ment), telling Elly Mae, that he RECKONS he better do this or that.  Don't ask me why, but when I read the word in my Bible, that's the vision that came tom my mind.

So what exactly is meant by the word "reckon"?  Other translations use the word "consider"  Basically it means that one must believe that something is so.  You've considered all the options, you've weighed all the facts, and you've determined that something is true.  From that point on all decisions will be made as if it was true.

We do this all the time.  No, you may not make a conscious decision, but we "reckon" things to be true every minute of the day.  Before I sit in a chair, I reckon that it will hold me.  I look at the chair and see that it has enough legs, is built out of sturdy materials, and is an appropriate size.  We make those decisions in a split second.  If all of the options meet my needs, then I move forward with a specific action; I sit in the chair.  The key here is that I've determined the criteria for a "safe" chair, ahead of time.

I'm guessing you could come up with many examples of how you reckon things throughout your day.  The verse quoted from Romans 6, is talking about our relationship to sin.  "What?!" you say!  "I don't want to have a relationship with sin!"  Ahhhhhhh, but you will, whether you want to or not.  So, you need to make some decisions about it ahead of time.  The Apostle Paul is suggesting you reckon a few things about sin, BEFORE you have to deal with it.  

Paul is telling us to consider ourselves "dead" to sin.  If sin comes knocking at your door (That's called temptation), it will have no effect on me because I have determined ahead of time that I have no "life" in it.  I am dead.  In order to for sin to take hold, YOU have to give it life.  Let's pretend that you struggle with the sin of gluttony.  If you are tempted by a box of Oreos, it only becomes sin if YOU act on it; if YOU give it life.  

1 Corinthians 10:13 gives us a tool to use when the bag of cookies is calling.  "No temptation has seized you that is not common to man, but God is faithful, and in that temptation, He will provide a way of escape, that you might bear up under it."  He may have you flee the area or destroy the bag of cookies.  He might create a distraction of some kind.  The point is, that YOU have to consider yourself "dead" to gluttony first.  Then you have to rely on God to give you what you need to deal with any temptation that arrives.  Again, all of this has to be done, BEFORE the temptation presents itself.

So......... what do you need to "reckon" today?  What do you need to consider yourself dead to?  Whatever it is, make these decisions today and then partner with God, to set up some defenses to guard against any attack that shows up.  And believe me, those attacks will come.  Satan will test your resolve.  He did that to Jesus and he'll do it to you