JUDGES 2:11-17 – And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger. They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress. Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so.”
THEME OF THE DAY: DON’T TRIVIALIZE SIN AND THE HOLINESS OF GOD. A warning about today’s nugget. It is serious and demands our focused attention, but that doesn’t mean it won’t encourage us. And before we look at today’s scripture, there is another that sets the course we will travel. It is found in the New Testament book of Hebrews – It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews10:31). We may ask, “Why fearful?” and the answer is two-fold, God is holy and His attitude and actions against sin, even in His children, is serious and significant. We get a very graphic picture of both in His dealing with His sinning people in today’s scripture.
Multiple times in the account we read of God’s love, protection, and care for His children. He delivered them out of the bondage of Egypt. He sent judges to deliver them. Yet, we see another side of our Lord; a side we will experience in our lives if we follow the ill-advised pattern of God’s people of old. Start trivializing sin, allow the world to cool our affections for Christ, let a shallow Christian culture that will not preach on holiness, wrath and repentance define a faulty view of Christianity, and we are inviting the chastening hand of God upon us. And it will be painful. Go back in today’s scripture and read the severe acts of God upon His rebelling people. It makes one shiver inside to view the lengths God goes in disciplining His wayward children.
Now the even more serious part applied directly to us. Christian, don’t make light of sin; don’t tolerate “little” sins of which no sin is little. An unkind word, an impatient spirit, a critical attitude, and a lukewarm heart are sins against a holy God. And in His love, yes His love, He will chastise us with His rod of correction and it won’t be pleasant (Hebrews 12:3-13). But here is the “real scary part” about the Lord dealing with us when we trivialize sin and ignore His holiness. We don’t know the length He will go to correct and restore us. This is what makes sinning for a Christian a very serious issue. Obviously when we choose or tolerate sin in our lives we are sending a message to the Lord of “I love my will and sin more than Your will and Person”, but there is something else. Tolerated sin in the child of God invites Him to bring upon us discipline. And it is an invitation He will always seize. He loves us too much to let us dishonor His Name and stop the process of making us like His Son.
So, let’s constantly ask the Lord to help us never take light views of sin and His holiness. In doing so, we safeguard ourselves from “forcing” Him to take severe disciplinary actions against us.
PRAYER: “Father, keep me close to Your Heart that I might not lose the fear of You and the fear of sin.”
QUOTE: “Let the world cool your heart towards God and you will lose the awe of God’s holiness and attitude about sin.”
Because of Him,
Pastor Jim