Get out of jail card

Yesterday my oldest son got caught skipping his Spanish class with a so called “friend”. Something I never ever expected from him. My first feeling was that of disappointment, not anger but disappointment. How could Zachary do this…….this is not at all like him? As we “calmly” discussed the situation on the way to church last night he told me that he knew that it was wrong, but that he did it because his friend asked him to. I explained to my kids that I will always try my best to show them the very same grace that God has shown me. I explained to them how God may discipline us for our sins, but that he will always do it with Love and Grace. I wanted them to understand that all though they may get punished and will have to pay the consequences I will still love them and they will be forgiven. As I was explaining this to them I had one of those, “aha” moments. You know, the moment when the Holy Spirit is talking through you and you here the things coming out of your mouth and you go, “AHA, I see!!!!”

If you’re anything like me you may have some of those habitual sins that you can’t seem to shake…..or may even tell yourself that you don’t need to shake. You may think about doing something, realizing that it is wrong, but go through with it anyways. I think sometimes as believers we try to tell ourselves that He has grace on us, he has already paid the price, this one little sin isn’t going to do any harm……I am forgiven. We use his Grace as our “get out of jail free” card. Sounds good in theory, but as I was talking to my kids last night I realized the true ramifications of this ideology. Yes God has forgiven me for all of my sins; past, present, and future. Yes we are imperfect, and will never be worthy of the wonderful Grace that he has given us, but does that mean that we can’t try? Here’s the thing that I told my kids last night in that moment. When we sin, God says “I forgive you, I already sent my son to die for these sins”, and when we repent and remove the sin we say “thank you Lord for your son Jesus Christ, and thank you for the sacrifice that he paid for me on the cross, your love for me is unconceivable”. But when we sin and God says “I forgive you, I already sent my son to die for these sins”, and we continue to do the same sin over and over and over again, or we know that we shouldn’t do something and do it anyways, we are saying “thank you Lord for your son Jesus Christ, but I am better than he, and this sin is worth way more to me than the sacrifice that was paid. Your son was great, but I am greater”. OUCHHHHH!!!!!! Hurts doesn’t it? Yes, and I say that every single time I do something that I know I shouldn’t be doing, or when I repeatedly do the same thing. The sad thing is that neither our realization of this, nor our consequences for these actions, will ever hurt nearly as much as pain that Jesus endured for our sins. Do we leave another scar on his side with every sin we do? I don’t know, but I am pretty sure that it puts a tear in his eye.

7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 9 Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor. James 4:7-10