"Because you have said this, the Lord says: ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will be killed with swords. Other people will measure your land and divide it among themselves, and you will die in a foreign country. The people of Israel will definitely be taken from their own land as captives.’" (NCV)
None of us sin in a vacuum. We try to convince ourselves that it’s our sin alone, that no one else will be hurt or affected. But there is always collateral damage. Even if there are no witnesses to our sin (except God). It doesn’t matter. Sin permeates our being, spreads to those around us, and the consequences affect others.
There is no getting around that.
Perhaps if we embraced this idea, we would choose to sin less. Perhaps if we accepted this fact, we would wake up each morning determined to serve the Lord and not our own lusts. Perhaps if we finally came to terms with the realization that we are responsible for the chaos around us, we would begin to do something meaningful about our relationship with the Lord. For there is no getting around the fact that the consequences of sin spread; they cannot be contained or controlled.
Last night I watched on the Internet a testimony of a young woman (19 years old) who is at the Dream Center in Los Angeles. By her own admission, she grew up in a Christian home. But after her father died, she became a drug addict. She is a beautiful young woman and I’m sure that her family is immensely grateful she is finally in rehab, but I can also guarantee that her mother was in tears last night. Her family will never be able to recover those lost years while this girl was an addict. The rift in the family relationship caused by the sin of drug addiction may heal, but it will leave scars. Can her family ever be the same again?
A few days ago, I did a quick Internet search for the grandchildren of a dear friend of mine who is now in Heaven. Her only son rebelled in his teenage years, delving into the drugs and becoming part of the drug subculture, even after his children were born. While my friend and her husband were passionate Christians and ministers of the gospel, her son and his wife moved further and further into the world of sin. His children—her grandchildren—now live without any knowledge of the Lord Jesus, totally immersed in a culture that would appall their grandparents. In two generations, a Christian family that dearly loved the Lord and were totally sold out to Him cascaded into a family that may never darken the door of a church. Why? Because of the sin of one man, their son.
Sin has consequences and those consequences spill out over onto those around us.
Amaziah sinned against the Lord by refusing the word of His prophet, Amos, and for that sin, Amaziah would die as a captive of a foreign power. But more than that, his children would be killed in the ensuing battle. Left destitute, his wife would have no other way to support herself other than prostitution. The consequences of Amaziah’s sin spilled out onto his family and even onto his nation!
Like Amaziah, our sin has consequences, consequences that those around us are experiencing. What can we do? The Lord has promised that He will bring healing if we fully turn back to Him:
"If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT).
We are called by His name. We are the Christians, the Christ-ones. And God’s word is simple and clear. We must:
• Humble ourselves
• Pray
• Seek His face
• Turn from our wicked ways
The Father promises to forgive us, but more than that, He promises to heal our land. That land could be the nation in which we live or it could also be that "land" within which our lives exist, our families, our relationships, our future. The Lord has promise to do more than just forgive us; He can miraculously heal the consequences of our sin that spilled out onto those around us. He can make whole what was torn apart. He can restore what was lost. He can heal what was broken. We need to humble ourselves, pray and seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways. We often don’t see healing and restoration because we are still clinging to our private sin, our sin that we are convinced is hidden. God sees all and He will withhold His healing hand until we repent and completely surrender to Him. If we want healing in our relationships, if we want wholeness again in our families, if we want those around us to stop suffering for what we have done, surrendering to God is the only solution. He is ready and willing to heal our land. Are we ready and willing to repent?
© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved.
For permission to copy, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com
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