Sin

Growing up as I did on the mission field in the Philippines and being immersed in the church, Bible, and Christian friends, and trained to "live right", one of my greatest personal struggles has been to see myself as a sinner and to see my sin as truly detestable. I was never a rebel and still not one. I am one to follow the rules.

Just this morning, I rose early to spend some time in the Word and praying. I will be honest and say that I don't do that very often. Okay, I never do it. I am not a morning person. And I'll just be real honest and say that I haven't had a quiet time since I don't know when. It's terrible and I confessed this morning and have been forgiven! (Psalm 103) Thank you, Lord. However, since I am going to Beth Moore's conference this weekend, the Lord wanted me to be get back into communication with Him so that I will be certain to know and hear His voice this weekend. So I've committed to getting up each morning this week and spend some time with Him.

I picked up a book that I real several years ago and just began to scan it after I had finished my devotion and prayer time. My heart sunk as I read:

"Throughout Scripture, God is seen as a faithful, devoted Husband who is intensly jealous for an exclusive relationship with His wife. When His bride is unfaithful, God is pictured as a rejected Lover who has been grievously wronged; He is provoked to righteous anger and grief when a rival lover enters the relationship. The next time you sin, picture your husband locked in a passionate embrace with a woman he met over the Internet...Try to feel the intensity of the shock, the rejection, the pain, the anger that would well up from the innermost part of your being upon discovering the truth. Then realize that what you would experience would be just a miniscule glimpse of the way God feels about our sin.

"As heartbreaking and revolting as such scenario are for those who have experienced them, they give us an inkling of what we are doing to our heavenly Husband when we persist in 'sleeping' with our sin, while claiming to be committed to our relationship with Him."

Most of us, and I am preaching to the choir here, have become so familiar with sin that we no longer view it as a "deadly monster", as the author calls it. Sin is dangerous. It disappoints, deceives, dominates and destroys us and our relationships. And it's not just the "serious sins" that are deadly, but it's the "subtle sins", if you will, that can be just as destructive.

The question to ask is, "Are you content to maintain a 'certain level of sin' in your life, as long as you can tame and manage it? There no such thing as a small sin. Every unconfessed sin is a seed that will produce a multiplied harvest. As Charles Spurgeon warned, 'Those who tolerate sin in what they think to be little things, will soon indulge it in greater matters.'"

I have been given a fresh glimpse of the sin in my life and how it has corrupted my relationship with the Lord, with my husband, and with my children. God is opening my eyes to see the seriousness of my sin before Him. And we can be forgiven. We have a merciful Redeemer and Restorer who loves us and longs and is willing to make all things new for those who repent. Praise God!

The verse given in the book is Hosea 14:1-2, 4-7 and I am claiming it as my verse for the week.

Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God.

Your sins have been your downfall!

Take words with you and return to the Lord.

Say to him: "Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously."

I will heal their waywardness and love them freely,

for my anger has turned away from them.

I will be like the dew to Israel;

he wil blossom like a lily. ...

His splendor will be like an olive tree,

his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.

Men will dwell again in his shade.

He will flourish like the grain.

(Quotes taken from Holiness by Nancy Leigh DeMoss)