Therefore, consider the members of your earthly body as dead to sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed which is idolatry. On account of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.
But now you also, lay them all aside: wrath, anger, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.      Colossians 3:5-8 LSB

There have been a few jobs in my life where I eagerly awaited quitting time. I was happy when the clock indicated it was time for me to go. I must say, however, for the majority of my life, I was blessed with a job I loved. The time passed quickly, and I never minded staying over if necessary. The job was not boring, and I never knew what I would face at any given time. Though it was often stressful, most of my time in this job I absolutely loved it!

Before I knew it, I found myself 20 years into this job. I realized I would be able to retire at an early age, 20 years before most people retire. I could easily go work another 20 years at another job if I wanted to. I asked a good friend who was older and had decided to retire how he knew it was time to retire. I knew he loved this job also. He said, “Kid, when it’s time you will know.”

I prayed about it and the circumstances just began falling into place for me to retire. I knew it was time. I knew God was guiding me in this direction. God knew that my family would need me for the next 12 years.

Sometimes it’s hard to know when it’s time to quit. Sometimes we have sin in our lives that we know is sin and we know it’s wrong, but we hold on to it. Our pastor calls this our pet sins. He says we like to keep them around and pet them and keep them close to us. When is it time to quit our old sinful lives?

Many never quit, they just carry on in their sin. Some want to quit, but like smoking, alcohol or any other drugs or other bad habit they have a hard time letting go. Hebrews 10:26-27 tells us, “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for our sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES.”

The time to quit our sinful ways is as soon as we have the knowledge of God’s truth which tells us they are a sin. I recently heard a Bible teacher say there aren’t only Ten commandments in the Bible but there are over 2,000 commandments. The Ten Commandments cover the basics, but there are many things we are specifically told to do and not do in the Bible.

Our pastor often says when we read, “Thou shall not” in the Bible it’s God’s way of saying, “Don’t hurt yourself.” We are given these commands in order to not hurt ourselves and certainly to help us to steer clear of hell.

We are told in 2 Corinthians 5:17 if anyone is in Christ, meaning truly saved, he is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

I get it, I didn’t want to give up my sinful ways either. The devil had convinced me they were necessary because I needed them. That sounds so ridiculous to me now, but that’s how I felt. God showed me that all I needed was Jesus Christ. He is where I found my peace and joy, not in my circumstances. He provides all I need.

If you have not been saved, the time to draw near to God is right now. James 4:7-8 tells us to submit ourselves to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Jesus is only a prayer away. Run to Him now.

If you have been saved but are holding on to that pet sin, let it go. Grab hold of His righteous right hand.

If you are caught up in deliberate sin, it’s quitting time my friend. Time to punch out and come home to Jesus.

Have a great day!