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 living in some way. 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 from Jesus. This can happen early on in our walk of faith, but usually it occurs once all the low hanging sinful fruit has been plucked from us. These deeply rooted personal sins require a specialized spiritual surgery to extract them.
“"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
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 yourself... most likely it is a sin you cherish more than the Peace of Christ and your heavenly relationship; a sin that needs to be defeated before you can reinvigorate your conversation with God.
“but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”
Isaiah 59:2 ESV
In my devotional reading this morning, Pastor Oswald Chambers wrote of this place in our relationship. He too reached that point of desperation and discovered that he was carrying an unrepented sin that weighed him down until he couldn’t get through to God and stood staring at a gaping chasm of sin between himself and the open road ahead. He speaks of those treasured sins that hold more value to us than the next step in our spiritual journey of faith. Are you there? Are you weighed down by some secret sin in your life?
“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 which awaits us requires that we cross some divide of sinfulness, and if we choose to let go of our sins and ask forgiveness for them then we can cross that divide easily. Do we find ourselves at a divide? Are we shackled and holding tight to our favorite sin(s) which are just too pleasurable, or valuable, to us? Secret sins such as these are like sores on an apple, and if they are not cut out they will rot the entire fruit. If this sounds familiar to us we are most assuredly at a point of decision... will we let our pet sins go, or will we give up on our journey altogether. Are we just too happy in our worldly lives to continue on in prayer towards righteousness 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 a cancer that cripples our stride, and removes our ability to walk on freely with Jesus. Facing some secret or pet sin comes to all of us who follow Jesus, and it happens more than once as we discover each of these precious worldly sins that encumber us, and must be painfully extracted. Our hidden sins are showstoppers that can raise their heads at any moment… even when we feel we are mere steps from the finish line. They come when we conclude that we can’t take another step. It is a terrible moment of heartbreak when we realize that our magnificent reward of eternal life in the presence of God has been lost because of our inability to relinquish our lives totally to serving 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
So, let’s let go of those personal sins that we guard, and hold dear within ourselves. Let’s abandon anything that keeps us from Jesus and walk on with Him as He soothes our loss by lavishing His Peace upon us. 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 we let go of the one to have the other? Can we restore ourselves to God’s presence in our prayer closet by letting that cherished sin go that for so long we have felt was hidden, secret, and known only to us?
“And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
Hebrews 4:13 ESV
“For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.”
Ecclesiastes 12:14 ESV
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 felt were hidden deep inside, but which in truth keep me from you. I look to you Father when my hands must be pried from these 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 sinfulness to rejoin Jesus and to journey on with Him towards righteousness and holiness. I pray Father that the vision of you never grows dim in my prayers, and that I never tarry in sin to the point where my ears grow deaf to 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 now in contrition before you today. Give me your Peace as a sweet salve to heal the wounds left by the sword of Christ as He severed them from me. Let me feel the joy in your presence and bask in your glory and grace forevermore.
“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