After reading Numbers, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Romans and James with a group from church last night, (Yes! 7 hours of reading!) I am left with one impression:
A lot like a shard of glass, consequences of our sins can arise at any time.
The Lord is very forgiving of sin, but he leaves it to us to clean up the mess we make when we do.
The children of Israel found this out when they ignored one of the conditions for inhabiting the Promised Land. They were to drive out all of the inhabitants. (Numbers 33:55) God even warned them that if anyone was left, those inhabitants would become like thorns in their sides. They failed to obey and we can look at the life of David to see that it still held true even through his days and beyond.
God expects us to obey his word. He also expects us to act on his behalf when the time comes – a lot like when Mordecai told Esther at one crucial point in the Jews history: “…who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14)
Yes, we can sin and be forgiven. We might even be able to take advantage of God’s grace a little bit. In the long run, the unintended consequences may cause us to perish.
Daily Bible reading for September 7
Psalm 36
1 Samuel 27
Daniel 8
Luke 5:1-6:16
September 7, 2013
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