The reason might just be a "ROOT SIN!"
What is a root sin? It is - an underlying attitude that is a sin in itself - but also leads to other sins.
Sometimes we only see sins at the surface. They are like weeds. We can pull them out - but they keep coming back. If we don't get at the root sin the surface sins will be hard to contain - let alone eliminate!
There may be several root sins but I want to mention one that has caused many problems in my own life - UNBELIEF!
Our lack of trust in God causes us to do many things that we would not normally do!
We often say that we trust God, that He is in control and He knows best. But if your'e like me, when something comes into my life that tests those beliefs, I find them much harder to believe!
It is easy to believe that God will supply all our needs when we have a steady income. At that point, our faith is more academic, conceptual or idealistic. Since we have our needs provided, we rally don't have to struggle much to believe that God will provide.
The great men and women of faith in the Bible believed God without any tangible evidence to support their beliefs!
For example, Mary believed the angel Gabriel when he told her that a child would be born to her. Can you imagine being a woman and believing you would have a child completely apart from the involvement of a man?
In the time of the Exodus, the children of Israel had just witnessed the ten plagues which God sent to judge Egypt to set them free from slavery. These plagues graphically displayed God's power over animals, nature and even death and the false gods of Egypt! Yet when they were being chased by Pharaoh and came to the Red Sea, they said, "God brought us here to kill us!" Have you ever felt like that?
After God parted the Red Sea, they still refused to believe Him when Moses was delayed on the mountain. The important aspect of all this is to look at the result. Their unbelief caused them to create a false god (idolatry) and commit acts of sexual immorality!
Can you see how the sins of idolatry and sexual immorality were actually rooted in UNBELIEF?
RIGHT BELIEVING PRECEDES RIGHT ACTION!
If we truly believe that God will meet our needs in tis life and bring us into His presence for all eternity, it it will cause us to act a certain way. If we believe He will forsake us and heaven is a myth, we will act a different way!
The Apostle Paul said it well:
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
1 Corinthians 15:19
If God is not real, the Christian life is a mere fantasy!
Thankfully, Paul does not stop there:
But now Christ is risen from the dead...
1 Corinthians 15:20a
Belief in God and all He has promised has caused men to act in ways that baffled the world. Moses gave us the riches of Egypt to suffer the shame of Christ. The disciples left all to follow Jesus. David said he "would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than to dwell at ease in the tents of wickedness."
Other have been tortured and killed for the sake of the kingdom of God! Why? Because they believed that nothing in this life could compare with the blessings of the life to come!
Conversely, UNBELIEF also influences how we act!
If we do not believe in our hearts that God is not only real but will be faithful to keep every one of His promises, our actions will be quite different!
Why sacrifice for a future that does not exist? Why not live to please ourselves if we will simply pass away when we die? Why follow God's commandments or the leading of His Spirit if we will not have to give an to account Him on day?
- Unbelief will keep us from leaving our comfort zones even when God is calling us!
- Unbelief will move us to find another way to meet our needs when we feel that God is not doing His job right - or fast enough!
- Unbelief will convince us toss what we "say" we believe, overboard, when times get tough!
If we "FEEL" that God hates us, has abandoned us, is out to get us or will send us to hell, we will act according to those feelings! Weak faith causes those "surface sins" to erupt!
In the same chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul concedes that if Christ is not risen (i.e. if God is not faithful or powerless), it is only reasonable to live for ourselves:
If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”
1 Corinthians 15:32
If we are struggling with some sin in our life, we would do well to check first to see if the sin of UNBELIEF is the root cause!
So often, when we strengthen our beliefs, we find it much easier to deal with the surface sins of the flesh!
Your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against You.
(Psalms 119:11 NKJV)
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW GOD PERSONALLY - FOLLOW THIS LINK...
IF YOU ALREADY ACCEPTED JESUS AS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR - GO HERE...
No comments:
Post a Comment