Life Hacks That Actually Work

So I asked Rachel what she was watching on mom’s phone.

“Eight Stupid Life Hacks that Actually Work.” she said.

Again, I have no words.

How do you hack life? Why would you look at life as something that needed hacked in order to get ahead? When I asked for an example, she quickly replied, “using nail polish as eyeliner.” Apparently, that one really stood out to her. Being a man who has never felt the need for either nail polish or eyeliner, I am not sure I have the practical knowledge to ascertain the veracity of that hack…

But as I thought about that video title, I started to think that perhaps the Gospel is the ultimate life hack. We are totally beset by sin. Unable to escape its attraction and allure, and thus unable to escape its inevitable consequences. Oh, we may be able to delay them for a while, but in the end, we are not ever able to get away from it are we? Then I remembered Romans 8:1-4,

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

The gospel is the ultimate hack on sin isn’t it? It cuts its power, kills its charm, and saves us from its ultimate consequences.