Tag: Sin

Morning Musing: Luke 15:17-19

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“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”‘”‬‬ (ESV – Read the chapter) 

When was the last time you had that moment when you suddenly came to your senses? You realized that what you were doing wasn’t working; that you didn’t like your outcomes, but unless you changed your inputs, your outcomes weren’t going to change? Have you had that moment before at all? If you have and you actually followed through on those thoughts, that was called repentance. And repentance is the only way out of a pit of justice and back to life. 

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Morning Musing: Matthew 5:27-28

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“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter) 

Jesus said some uncomfortable things during His ministry. This particular saying is close to the top of the pile. Frankly, it’s even worse than what He says next about cutting off the hand or gouging out the eye that causes us to sin because those are obvious instances of hyperbole. This one isn’t. This one is just hard. There’s no wiggle room here. So…what do we do with it. 

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Morning Musing: Matthew 2:16

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“Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.”‬‬ (ESV – Read the chapter) 

This is the hardest part of the story. This episode reveals Herod—known to history as Herod the Great—as one of the single greatest monsters ever to walk the face of the earth. It puts him in the ranks of Hitler and Stalin and Mao. He may not have killed nearly as many (though he had many thousands more than this put to death in his time, including family members), but anyone who would order the wholesale slaughter of babies jumps to the head of that deadly class. The bottom line right now, though, is this: What on earth are we supposed to do with this? 

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Digging in Deeper: 2 Samuel 12:13-14 Part 2

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“David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.””  (ESV – Read the chapter) ‬‬

These are two of the hardest verses I’ve yet encountered in this slow walk through the history books of the Hebrew Bible. In the first part of this note I began sharing about what has given me such trouble. I started out fairly easy. Here I will get into the real problem for me (and possibly you too). As I said before, here goes… Read the rest…