Last Sunday’s sermon has stirred up some strong emotions within me. You might think that my goal is to stir up emotions within others, but as is often the case I think I’m often the one that is most affected (and that’s not a bad thing).
God’s word is convicting and that’s a good thing.
What I’ve been thinking about is my tendency to hear a word of rebuke, make excuses, and then move on. It’s natural for people (and for me) to say about certain verses “Oh, that doesn’t apply” when the truth is they apply more than we realize.
For example, take last week’s sermon and it’s three points about willful disobedience, deliberate ignorance, and negligent leaders. Surely these points are primarily about others, right? There’s a tendency for me to think these verses don’t apply. I’m not that bad, right? (You don’t need to answer that.)
Well, if I’m honest, I’m also guilty of these sins.
I confess that I’ve certainly been a negligent leader during the times I’ve softened the word of God to keep from offending people. And after realizing it then I’ve often gone into the other ditch of being too harsh when a gentler word would have sufficed.
I confess that I’ve also been deliberately ignorant during the times I’ve rushed through my Bible reading in order to get the less important, but seemingly more urgent, things done.
I also confess that I’ve been willfully disobedient during the many times I’ve delayed repenting of my bad attitude toward so-and-so or such-and-such.
In other words I’ve had, and still have, more in common with the prodigal son, and the people Jeremiah witnessed to, than I’d like to admit. And, like him, I need to repent and come back home to my Father’s loving arms. Maybe you can relate?
One More Thing
This song by Matthew West is a heartfelt plea for all of us to be more honest with the truth about ourselves. Being honest with God is the only way to fix the problem of our sinfulness.