Dear sister,
Idols…Oh, how I see the guilty bowing before their objects of worship. Marriage, smart kids, desire for marriage and smart kids. Stuff, Amazon, E-bay, malls. Jobs, prestige, advancement, power, bank accounts. Beauty, exercise, firm biceps, smoothies, health, supplements. Clean houses, order, minimalism, or one more object to display. All good things gone wrong. Then there are pride, desire to control, self-righteousness in all religiosity. I can spot these things in others a mile away. Or is it simply Projection 101? My sins imputed to others? I get so sick of myself.
And then there is God. So holy. So clean. So above us all in every way. Impeccable and perfect. A God of love, yet hating, despising our sin—those things we cling to, reluctant to unclench our grasping fingers from our objects of adoration—a thing, a person, an attitude, a thought, so often justifying ourselves with, “It’s not so bad-I mean, look at her.”
Scrutinize Ezekiel 14…It’s hard to justify ourselves when we look at our Father in heaven and begin to understand His hatred for idolatry and His refusal to allow His people to remain in their sin. Not only will He chasten His own, but those who come hypocritically to God’s people, to His ministers, seeking a relationship with God by rules of their own making, continuing their love of sin, will be judged. And there comes a point in time when God’s patience ends and no amount of intercessory prayer, even by truly righteous people like Noah, Daniel, or Job, will avert chastening or judgment for those in ongoing, unrepentant iniquities. Simply put, sin is serious. Very serious.
Paul tells us in Romans 6:12-13:
“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness.” Do not…Do…Put off…Put on… By His grace.
Yes, it’s true our God remembers our frame, that we are dust. Yes, He is forgiving and filled with loving-kindness and tender mercies, but that does not diminish His hatred for our sin, our sin that nailed His Son, our Savior to the harsh, lonely, Father-forsaken cross. Too often we are cavalier about our wrongdoing. Too often we excuse ourselves or commit shallow repentance. Too often we gather well-meaning others around us who confirm us in wrong-doing, assuring us it’s not so bad, after-all, look at all the good you’re doing. This is deadly trade-off thinking, thinking which desensitizes us to the truth about ourselves or presuming upon His grace with a casual, “Oh, He’ll forgive me”, sometimes with a little comic-relief chuckle.
Let’s confess to God our love of idols, our distorted thinking. Let’s ask the Lord to show us more and more of His righteousness and beauty as we immerse ourselves in His Word and implore Him to make us more like Himself, hating sin, loving righteousness, submitting in glad obedience. And then, as we marvel at His glory, let’s repent again, more deeply, examining more profound layers of our inward beings. Let’s be honest. No white-washing. Let us thank Him for the blood of Christ poured over us, washing us clean.
And if you don’t know Him, if He is not the Savior and Master of your life, give Him your sin and yourself. Throw yourself on His undeserved mercy. Let Him take your sin and give you His righteousness. Come to Him in faith alone. You can never make yourself good enough. There is a lovely little hymn which states,
“Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,
Weak and wounded,
Sick and sore;
Jesus ready stands to save you,
Full of pity, love, and power.
Come, ye weary, heavy-laden,
Lost and ruined by the fall;
If you tarry till you’re better,
You will never come at all.”
So come as you are. Poor. Needy. Unable. He loves to forgive and save—and it is forever.
Love because of His deep love,
Cherry