In this powerful chapter, all of the Israelites are gathered to confess their sin and worship. During this, the Levites summarize Israel’s history from Abram (Abraham) to the present day, emphasizing God’s mercy for His sinful people.
“But… our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them… and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.” (v16-17 abr)
History is full of rebellious people, but contrasted by God’s mercy and forgiveness. Over and over again the Israelites disobeyed and hardened their hearts, received consequences, and then cried out for forgiveness. Over and over again, God forgave them of their sin. Yet, the cycle repeats itself, even to this day.
If you’ve been a Christ follower for any length of time I’m sure this cycle of ‘sin, consequence, forgiveness, obedience’ is fairly familiar to you (it is too familiar to me). It seems very human to go through this cycle, over and over again, both individually, and as groups of people (including the church).
A simple example is I have a sin pattern of wasting an entire day on entertainment and disregarding my higher priorities (including my Bible reading time). I have reflected on this, and know that if I start a day with entertainment, it will likely lead to more and more until the whole day is wasted. By recognizing that pattern, I can choose to break the cycle before it spirals out of control. By knowing our patterns, and our hearts, we can preemptively take steps to minimize our sin cycles, and prioritize our obedience.
My challenge to us today isn’t to ‘stop sinning’, but to know ourselves and recognize our sinful cycles for what they are. When we put monitoring / reflection / prayer in place, we can break out of the cycles faster and earlier with the Spirit’s help. By focusing on (obeying) God more, the sin / consequence parts of the cycle become less frequent, breaking some cycles before they even start.
Father God, our Loving and Forgiving Lord, You bless us so richly with Your grace and mercy. Thank You for second, third, and one hundred twenty third chances, and for giving us the opportunity to repent of our sin. May we embrace the mercy and forgiveness You offer, and strive to be more obedient day by day. In Jesus’ holy name we praise You, amen.
~ Conqueror in Training