Too many believers have walked away from God. No, He has not moved—they have. The moment we stop drawing near to our heavenly Father, we put a limit on our knowledge and understanding of Him. This is completely true of the lost man or woman, but to a certain degree, it also applies to the Christian who is not living a godly life. More than once, I have listened to believers talk about how they can no longer trust the Lord. These people may have made a series of wrong choices, but they blame God for failing to prevent the negative consequences. We must keep in mind that His primary desire is to draw us into an intimate relationship with Him. Sin has consequences, and the Lord will not change the principles He has established. If we want to know why something has happened, we need to move closer to Him, not farther away. We also need to seek His forgiveness when we sin. Someone might ask, “Didn’t Christ’s forgiveness take care of my sin––past, present, and future?” Yes. If we have accepted God’s gift of salvation, our guilt is completely erased in terms of our eternal destiny. But you and I still need to confess the wrong choices and decisions we make as believers. We live in a corrupt world, where all manner of wickedness, profanity, and filth are within our reach. When you and I give in to temptation, it’s as if we have just reached out and touched the grime of a coal mine and wiped it on our white clothing. But we can ask forgiveness and become completely clean again. Every believer is sealed with an eternal “stamp” signifying that he or she belongs to Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:13). Our salvation is secure. Even so, we can become spiritually dirty and in need of God’s cleansing touch. The Lord does not want us to mix purity and sin, so we must make a choice. One leads to inexpressible joy, peace, and security, while the other results in isolation, insecurity, regret, and deep sorrow. God demands our full commitment—anything less has serious consequences. Of course, all of us can have moments of waning devotion. But despite that, there should remain an underlying sense of love for God that we are not willing to compromise. Knowing the truth about sin and its path to destruction is important, but we must also choose to be God-focused rather than self-centered or worldly-minded. If you are carrying sin around, you are going to be weighed down. You can’t enjoy life completely, and you certainly won’t experience the full measure of God’s blessings and goodness. Jealousy and resentment will steal your joy and prevent you from reaching your potential in Christ. Greed will limit your ability to know what the Lord is calling you to do. And endless pursuit of worldly fame and wealth will harden your heart to the simple pleasures that He gives each day. Lust and immorality will deaden the heart and spirit to such a degree that hearing God becomes impossible. As believers, we cannot engage in sin and remain in close fellowship with our Father (Ps. 66:18). Over time, we will become spiritually deaf to the principles written in His Word. That leads to one wrong decision after another. When you have taken the wrong path––and all of us yield to sin at some point––there is Someone who will stand with you before God. John wrote, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). If you have walked away from God and said no to His plans for your life, confess that sin to Him. He will forgive you and cleanse you from unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Then, you can once again enjoy the peace, joy, and security of an intimate relationship with your heavenly Father.
Posted on: Sun, 02 Feb 2014 14:47:17 +0000
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