"Taking Sin Seriously"

Sin is a terrible Lord! God is a willing forgiver of sin. We can quote many verses of God's forgiveness. Verses like: "...and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." (I John 1:7) "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (I John 1:9) "And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." (I John 2:1) There are so many more but I think these make my point.

God is willing, in fact more than willing to forgive sins. God loves to give His grace and lovingkindness to those who sin. But what do we miss? There must be some heart acknowledgment of sin and sinful attitudes before God for Him to reach out with His loving heart! Too many are busy explaining why they sin that they don't realize the seriousness of their sin before God. "It's our parents fault! It's the environment we grew up in! It's the culture around us! It's our peers! It's our complexes or doubts!" This is where so many get themselves into messes. By the time they are finished explaining why they sinned and the elements involved, we simply had no choice but to sin! Where does that leave many? Sin is not anything too serious and we are not at all responsible. Simply put, we have too much to say for ourselves!

The church of today seems to be the "church" of Israel in the Old Testament. God sent them (and us) into the wilderness because of our casual and lack of understanding of the seriousness of sin. Until we take our sin seriously and realize the consequences it causes in our lives, we simply will abuse the mercy and grace of God. (But God won't allow that!) God's not like that. If we would only reflect with serious thought the cross, there we would see God's recoil at sin and His complete defeat of the lord sin in our lives. Too many take forgiveness too lightly also. We move along without little thought of the impact and amazement of what forgiveness really is about. It does not make us stand in awe! We are the sinners. God is the Holy One who forgives but those aren't words spoken, it was love demonstrated speaking to our hearts if we would only listen.