Sin Against God
Yesterday, I attend a “Common Pursuit” event. It is a gathering of businessmen and professionals who are committed to live our their faith in the “marketplace.” My longtime friend James Ruder, CEO of L&R Pallet Company was one of the guests. His challenging question was, “What if we lived in such a way that our greatest fear was disobedience to the Lord?”
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…. “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.” Psalm 51:4 ESV
In David’s psalm and prayer of repentance he articulates a concept that we see in the Bible. That is, our sin is ultimately sin against the Lord and the Lord is the One to whom we are ultimately accountable. So often, actions are justified with the dismissive, “It didn’t hurt anyone!” or the thought is the impact of our actions has little or not ramifications.
When David sinned with Bathsheba, it was two adults. While it was sin and wrong, the impact seemed minimal and could be humanly justified. But in the end we see it resulted in a cover up that resulted in the death of Bathsheba’s husband, it resulted in the birth of child who died, it resulted in an entire nation being impacted and most importantly it was a “sin against the Lord.”
We see this reflected in Joseph in the house of Potiphar. As his wife was tempting him perhaps it was with the words, “no one will know!” But Joseph said, “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9 NIV)
When we live a “God-conscious” life we realize that we are not our own. We are not free to “do our own thing” to live as our human inclinations would dictate. There are codes of conduct and civil laws, but the highest standard is, “What does God say? What is right in His eyes and what is pleasing to Him?”
The restoration and repentance process is reconciliation with God and with others. We sin against God, but must remember the impact of our actions on others. We are relational people. All of our actions impact others. You may even be homeless without, family, but your actions will impact others.
Bottom line. When we sin, our actions impact ourselves and others. But we must remember that all sin is “sin against the Lord.” He is the One to whom we will ultimately be accountable. Recognizing our horizontal and vertical accountability of our actions is equally important.
That is why David’s prayer is so important, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14 NLT) When our words and conduct are right in God’s eyes, they will be right in the eyes of people.
Prayer for today…. Lord this day, “forgive us our transgressions, cleanse us from sin.” Lord, allow us to live not in fear of judgment, but out of the desire to lives in an unfettered relationship with You. We are reminded, “When the LORD takes pleasure in anyone’s way, he causes their enemies to make peace with them.” (Proverbs 16:7 NIV)