“Those who cling to worthless
idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.”
“ Jonah 2:8
The youth in our churches are growing up in a culture where nothing is the fault of the
individual. No matter what happens, one
can blame another or diminish its importance.
This approach to life has become so commonplace that it is what most
people do without even recognizing it.
This is a dangerous mindset and truly shows the arrogance and insolent nature
of mankind. The culture teaches the young
among us to not only ignore culpability but cling to and celebrate sin. Deprived of guilt and remorse, the culture
holds onto its sin and in clinging to sin it forgoes the grace of God.
God
is faithful to forgive but true forgiveness only comes after sin has been
properly mourned. That is the unkempt secret that is declared in
scripture. Jonah 2:8 states, “Those who
cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.” It is the weight of guilt and the grief that
causes each to reach out to God and experience the joy of forgiveness. The students in my youth group recently explored Psalms
51. In these verses, King David
demonstrates how one is to mourn over sin.
After much brooding, he
chooses to ignore the tendency to place blame
and instead confesses his sins (Psalm 51:1-5).
David stands broken before the
Lord, calling out to the Lord to remain close.
In these verses we see true mourning and through this we see a man who
received grace. For he believed and declared, “The sacrifices
of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not
despise” (Psalm 51:17).
Christians, let us again be those who gladly declare our guilt and call others to do
likewise. Let us draw near to God and be
like David. Let us take the blame for our
sin, name each one, identify its specific source, and confess it to God. Once
we have done this and once we have mourned it then we as individuals and we
corporately will feel the comfort of Christ.