12/19/2017
As we move towards a godly state of righteousness we shed one sin after another until at last we are down to our pet sins... those that give us personal pleasure, or reduce the pain of life. When we reach this point, and we refuse to let these sins go, then our relationship with God stalls, and we feel a growing separation. This can happen early on, but usually it occurs once all of the low hanging sinful fruit has been plucked from us. These deeply imbedded sins require surgery to extract them.
Are you having a hard time touching God with your prayers? Do you pray only to find an empty feeling, and conclude by wondering if God has heard you at all? If this is so, then it is time to look not at God, but inward into yourself. Upon introspection you will find something in you that is standing between the Lord, and you... a sin you cherish more than the Peace of Christ, and your heavenly relationship; a sin that needs to be severed from you before you can reinvigorate your conversation with God.
“"Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”
Matthew 10:34 ESV
Oswald Chambers wrote of this place in our relationship. He too reached that point of desperation... the travail in our journey at which we become stalled, and stand staring at a gaping chasm of sin between us and the road ahead. He speaks of those treasured sins that hold more value to us than the next step in our journey of faith. Are you there?
“If a man cannot get through to God it is because there is a secret thing he does not intend to give up - I will admit I have done wrong, but I no more intend to give up that thing than fly.” - Oswald Chambers
Standing at the precipice of sin, we can no longer stay abreast of the Peace of Christ that has been our companion. That peace crosses the divide easily, while we stop and hold tight to our favored sin which is just too pleasurable, or valuable, to let go of. It is like a sore on an apple, and if not cut out it will rot the entire fruit. We are at a point of decision... will I let it go, or do I give up on the journey altogether. Am I just too happy where I am to continue on with Jesus?
“Thousands of people are happy without God in this world. If I was happy and moral till Jesus came, why did He come? Because that kind of happiness and peace is on a wrong level; Jesus Christ came to send a sword through every peace that is not based on a personal relationship to Himself.” - Oswald Chambers
Holding onto a sin isn’t a minor event; it is the abandonment of our desire to be with God. Sin that isn’t surrendered becomes the cancer that kills our stride, and cripples our ability to walk on with Jesus. This point comes to all of us who follow Jesus, and it happens more than once as we discover each of these precious sins that encumber us, and must be painfully extracted. It is the showstopper that can come when we feel we are mere steps from the finish line. It comes when we conclude that we can’t take another step. It is the moment of heartbreak when we realize that our magnificent goal of eternal life has fallen on our inability to relinquish our lives totally to God.
“And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."”
Joshua 24:15 ESV
Let go of those personal sins that you guard, and hold dear within yourself. Abandon anything that keeps you from Jesus, and walk on with Him as He soothes your loss by lavishing His Peace upon you. It has been so easy to rest in the meager peace of the world, but the Peace of Christ is so much richer and satisfying. Can you let go of the one to have the other? Can you restore yourself to God’s presence in your prayer closet by letting that cherished sin go?
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the strength you give me as I walk with Jesus Christ towards your heavenly kingdom. I thank you for pointing out those sins in me that I have hidden deep inside, but which keep me from you. I look to you Father when my hands must be pried from sins I hold tight to, and that I am reluctant to release. You encourage me Father, and call me to step across the chasm of my pet sin to rejoin Jesus as I journey with Him towards righteousness and holiness. I pray Father that the vision of you never grows dim, and that I never tarry in sin where I lose the sound of your voice. Hear my cries Lord, forgive me as I let go of those sins that have controlled me for so long, and that I lay down in contrition before you. Give me your Peace as a sweet salve to heal the wound left by the sword of Christ. Let me feel the joy in your grace forever.
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
James 4:7-8 ESV
Rich Forbes