August 22
August 22
Convincing yourself that sin has no consequences is a dangerous spiritual delusion.
The book of Lamentations begins with great sadness:
How lonely sits the city
that was full of people!
How like a widow has she become,
she who was great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the provinces
has become a slave.
She weeps bitterly in the night,
with tears on her cheeks;
among all her lovers
she has none to comfort her;
all her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
they have become her enemies.
Judah has gone into exile because of affliction
and hard servitude;
she dwells now among the nations,
but finds no resting place;
her pursuers have all overtaken her
in the midst of her distress.
The roads to Zion mourn,
for none come to the festival;
all her gates are desolate;
her priests groan;
her virgins have been afflicted,
and she herself suffers bitterly.
Her foes have become the head;
her enemies prosper,
because the Lord has afflicted her
for the multitude of her transgressions;
her children have gone away,
captives before the foe.
From the daughter of Zion
all her majesty has departed.
Her princes have become like deer
that find no pasture;
they fled without strength
before the pursuer. (Lam. 1:1–6)
Why has this sad message from God about the consequences for Israel’s sin been preserved for us? What are we to gain from this mournful picture of what is going to happen to the people of God because they have turned their backs on their Lord, rebelled against his commands, and given their hearts to the worship of other gods?
This has been retained for us because we share a spiritual problem with God’s people of old. Like them, we are prone to minimize, ignore, or deny the consequences of sin. We tell ourselves that gossip won’t hurt our relationships, that lust won’t weaken our marriages, that gluttony won’t affect our health, that materialism won’t lead to debt, that our impatience and anger won’t drive away our children. We convince ourselves that grace means that God is tolerant of our sin. So God, because of his fatherlike love, has recorded for us moments when the consequences for sin come to those who have lived as though sin were not so sinful after all.
For us, Lamentations 1 is a call from our heavenly Father to examine ourselves, confess the sin and deceitfulness of our hearts, and turn to him in submission and obedience once again. Lamentations 1 is in your Bible as a tool of God’s rescuing, protecting, and keeping grace. The God of mercy calls us back to him so that we do not have to reap the full consequences of our sin.
It is important to remember that God’s grace never calls wrong right. Grace reminds us of sin’s consequences and then offers us forgiveness and the power to say no.