7 DEADLY SINS
DAY 163: More and more, people are seeing "sin" as subjective, more defined by the time you live in than a predetermined standard. The list used to be pretty cut and dry and could be counted up on your fingers... seven fingers to be exact. These vices earned themselves the title of THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS.
These days that list sounds more like the the plot of highly anticipated blockbuster movie, or the profile of a successful business man. Instead of a list of sin to flee from, they are more like attributes to conquer. We revere such things. If you don't agree just look at our culture:
Then there was his son and successor to the throne after him:
33:1 "Manasseh was 12 yeas old when he became king and he reigned in Jerusalem 55 years. He did what was evil in the Lord's sight, imitating the detestable practices of the pagan nations."
Reversing all the good Hezekiah had done, Manasseh rebuilt the pagan shrines, constructed alters for the images of Baal, bowed before the stars to worship them, and defiled God's temple with idols. But it gets so much worse.
31:6 "Manasseh even sacrificed his own sons in the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft and he consulted with medium and psychics. He did much that was evil the in t Lord's sight, arousing his anger."
Where Hezekiah found success in obedience, Manasseh ignored the warning God sent and he found only hardship and defeat. "So the Lord sent the Assyrian armies and they took Manasseh prisoner, they put a ring through his nose, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon."
Two kings. One good. One bad. One finding success; the other defeat. So is the moral of the story "be good?" Hardly. As good as Hezekiah was and as bad as Manasseh was, they did have one thing in common - they were both human and therefore born sinners.
At one point God showed a great kindness to Hezekiah by healing him of a sickness that should have led to death. But Hezekiah, who had prayed to God for healing, responded with pride. Perhaps he thought he "deserved" the kindness; or maybe he claimed the healing because of his own powerful prayers rather than God's powerful mercy. All we know is that "he became proud. So the anger of the Lord burned against him and against Judah and Jerusalem," just as Manasseh "did much that was evil in the Lord's sight, arousing his anger." Both failed God. Both sinned.
Hold on to your hats because here is the part that is really going to get your riled. God showed mercy and forgiveness to .... BOTH. Recap: Hezekiah's sin was pride. Manasseh murdered his own kids by human sacrifice. Hezekiah almost always obeyed God. Manasseh almost never obeyed God. So why did God have mercy on them both? Because they both repented.
Caught in sin....31:26 Hezekiah repented of his pride, and the people of Jerusalem humbled themselves. So the Lord's anger did not come against them during Hezekiah's lifetime." Hezekiah went on serving the Lord faithfully until his death.
Caught in sin...32:12 Manasseh, while in deep distress, sought the Lord his God and cried out humbly to the God of his ancestors. And when he prayed, the Lord listened to him and was moved by his request for help. So the Lord let Manasseh return to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Manasseh had finally realized that the Lord alone is God!" Manasseh's life did not go on as usual. "He removed the foreign gods from the hills and the idol from the Lord's Temple. He tore down all the alters he had built.. he restored the alter of the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings and thanksgiving offerings. He also encourage the people of Judah to worship the Lord..."
The saving mercy of God was not dependent on "good" or "bad" for either of these men because good can never be good enough and bad can never be too bad to find mercy. Both find mercy through real repentance alone - which is just agreeing with God that His ways are right, our ways are wrong, and then turning to follow Him. Nothing could change the harm that resulted from Manasseh's evil deed before his repentance. Choices have consequences. Life on earth was altered because he gave into his own evil desires for most of his life. His sins were obvious in that way. What is less obvious is the damage done by a "good" person. While they may vary in consequences on earth, people, ALL PEOPLE, reap the same eternal consequences if they rely on pleasing good by their own human efforts - separation from God forever. Manasseh, like Hezekiah, turned to God in repentance and that is what changed his eternity.
I'm so thankful that finding God's mercy is not dependent on a list that I must keep, or a list that He is keeping about me. Good days and bad days, my hope is in Him and His mercy, not me and my "goodness". In faith because of the cross, I can claim Christ's goodness as my own and through Him find favor with the Father.
2 Chronicles 30
2 Chronicles 31
Romans 15:1-22
Psalm 25:1-15
Proverbs 20:13-15
Day 213 of 365
2 Chronicles 32
2 Chronicles 33:1-13
Romans 15:23-33
Romans 16:1-9
Psalm 25:16-22
Proverbs 20:16-18
These days that list sounds more like the the plot of highly anticipated blockbuster movie, or the profile of a successful business man. Instead of a list of sin to flee from, they are more like attributes to conquer. We revere such things. If you don't agree just look at our culture:
- LUST: Hottest TV Show is the Bachelor
- GLUTTONY: One of our TV heroes is from MAN vs FOOD leading to THE BIGGEST LOSER
- SLOTH: Welfare has become a way of life with government blessing
- WRATH: The most popular games reward violence
- ENVY: Advertising is all about making us want what others have and we embrace it to the tune of billions of dollars a year
- PRIDE: Ours is a "me time" "I deserve it" "15 minutes of fame" society reflected our obsession with reality TV
Perhaps it is our fear of leaving it to God to decide who is good that makes so many think so illogically. After all, if God decides, and His standards haven't changed, who can avoid punishment? Only the really really good that can keep His list? No, not even the good are good enough if you believe the Bible. Romans 3:10 says "There is no one righteous; not even one." And Psalms 53:3 says "Everyone has turned away,they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good,not even one." About 1500 years separates those declarations, and yet the standard is unchanged and no one can keep it. That ought to make the good people and the evil people alike shutter. It ought to make us shutter.
So who can have hope? David answered it for us in the Psalm for today: "They will place their hopes on him." (24:12)
We can't even decide what sin is, so I don't know how we can help ourselves. Our only hope is to rely on the mercy of God, as did the two kings we just read about yesterday and today. They are living illustrations that only God's mercy saves, whether you think your are good or bad.
We can't even decide what sin is, so I don't know how we can help ourselves. Our only hope is to rely on the mercy of God, as did the two kings we just read about yesterday and today. They are living illustrations that only God's mercy saves, whether you think your are good or bad.
Two kings lives unfold for us in 2 Chronicles 30-32 - and they are opposites for sure. Hezekiah, who took the throne after the death of his very evil father Ahaz died, was a man who "did what was pleasing in the sight of the Lord." He restored the temple, lead the people to worship, rebuilt the walls and city of Jerusalem, gave much of his own wealth to God's service, tore down false idols and sought God's counsel.
2 Chronicles 31:21. "In all he did in the service of the Temple of God and in his efforts to follow the law and the commands, Hezekiah sought his God wholeheartedly. As a result, he was very successful."
Then there was his son and successor to the throne after him:
33:1 "Manasseh was 12 yeas old when he became king and he reigned in Jerusalem 55 years. He did what was evil in the Lord's sight, imitating the detestable practices of the pagan nations."
Reversing all the good Hezekiah had done, Manasseh rebuilt the pagan shrines, constructed alters for the images of Baal, bowed before the stars to worship them, and defiled God's temple with idols. But it gets so much worse.
31:6 "Manasseh even sacrificed his own sons in the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft and he consulted with medium and psychics. He did much that was evil the in t Lord's sight, arousing his anger."
Where Hezekiah found success in obedience, Manasseh ignored the warning God sent and he found only hardship and defeat. "So the Lord sent the Assyrian armies and they took Manasseh prisoner, they put a ring through his nose, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon."
Two kings. One good. One bad. One finding success; the other defeat. So is the moral of the story "be good?" Hardly. As good as Hezekiah was and as bad as Manasseh was, they did have one thing in common - they were both human and therefore born sinners.
At one point God showed a great kindness to Hezekiah by healing him of a sickness that should have led to death. But Hezekiah, who had prayed to God for healing, responded with pride. Perhaps he thought he "deserved" the kindness; or maybe he claimed the healing because of his own powerful prayers rather than God's powerful mercy. All we know is that "he became proud. So the anger of the Lord burned against him and against Judah and Jerusalem," just as Manasseh "did much that was evil in the Lord's sight, arousing his anger." Both failed God. Both sinned.
Hold on to your hats because here is the part that is really going to get your riled. God showed mercy and forgiveness to .... BOTH. Recap: Hezekiah's sin was pride. Manasseh murdered his own kids by human sacrifice. Hezekiah almost always obeyed God. Manasseh almost never obeyed God. So why did God have mercy on them both? Because they both repented.
Caught in sin....31:26 Hezekiah repented of his pride, and the people of Jerusalem humbled themselves. So the Lord's anger did not come against them during Hezekiah's lifetime." Hezekiah went on serving the Lord faithfully until his death.
Caught in sin...32:12 Manasseh, while in deep distress, sought the Lord his God and cried out humbly to the God of his ancestors. And when he prayed, the Lord listened to him and was moved by his request for help. So the Lord let Manasseh return to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Manasseh had finally realized that the Lord alone is God!" Manasseh's life did not go on as usual. "He removed the foreign gods from the hills and the idol from the Lord's Temple. He tore down all the alters he had built.. he restored the alter of the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings and thanksgiving offerings. He also encourage the people of Judah to worship the Lord..."
The saving mercy of God was not dependent on "good" or "bad" for either of these men because good can never be good enough and bad can never be too bad to find mercy. Both find mercy through real repentance alone - which is just agreeing with God that His ways are right, our ways are wrong, and then turning to follow Him. Nothing could change the harm that resulted from Manasseh's evil deed before his repentance. Choices have consequences. Life on earth was altered because he gave into his own evil desires for most of his life. His sins were obvious in that way. What is less obvious is the damage done by a "good" person. While they may vary in consequences on earth, people, ALL PEOPLE, reap the same eternal consequences if they rely on pleasing good by their own human efforts - separation from God forever. Manasseh, like Hezekiah, turned to God in repentance and that is what changed his eternity.
I'm so thankful that finding God's mercy is not dependent on a list that I must keep, or a list that He is keeping about me. Good days and bad days, my hope is in Him and His mercy, not me and my "goodness". In faith because of the cross, I can claim Christ's goodness as my own and through Him find favor with the Father.
2 Chronicles 30
2 Chronicles 31
Romans 15:1-22
Psalm 25:1-15
Proverbs 20:13-15
Day 213 of 365
2 Chronicles 32
2 Chronicles 33:1-13
Romans 15:23-33
Romans 16:1-9
Psalm 25:16-22
Proverbs 20:16-18
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