“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. (2nd Chron. 16:9a)
If you could feel the presence of the Lord, would you fear to sin? If you could find a place where you knew He wasn’t looking, where His eyes could not see, or if you could conceive of what you might consider an acceptable excuse, would you then proceed with that which you know is displeasing to Him?
What if I rephrase all that in this manner, since you know for a fact that He is watching all the time, in fact, His Holy Spirit is within you, does that cause the fear of sinning to reside within you continuously?
His eyes are always upon us and 1st John 1:8 is a truth, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
So then, are certain sins, what you might consider minor sins, of no real consequence to you, and thereby to Him? Can you find a viable excuse, an acceptable reason to not fear Him because of those supposed inconsequential sins?
Sin goes before death, we will sin, yet “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1st John 1:9)
I write today to those of you who understand sin and exactly what it is in relation to the one who has been born again, those who have the assurance of your eternal salvation, who abhors sin, and sees it for what it is, not only disrespectful and dishonoring to your Father in heaven, but in direct disobedience to His will for us to remain holy before Him. I speak to those of you who are attempting with all your strength, through His strength in you, in keeping every thought captive for Christ.
And have found that to be an impossible task. And it bothers you because you cannot do so.
The topic is the fear of God when we sin, the subject matter is our thoughts, the imaginations of our heart, and the context is our inability to stop sinful thoughts from entering into our minds. And only those who are truly hid in Christ can understand those words, only those who are the righteousness of God in the Lord Jesus Christ, who know those thoughts that frequent our minds, can fully comprehend this verse.
“I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” (Romans 7:25)
The flesh has a mind of its own, and it is subject to the law of sin, and even while you can hinder your flesh from physically acting out on its desires, no man can completely and fully control his thoughts. But the eyes of the Lord are continually searching this planet for the man who attempts to do so.
We despise those thoughts, and are enticed by them at the same time, a lifetime of duality. A constant and never-ending battle that will not cease until we are glorified. We are expected to remain in that battle, and our Father in heaven knows full well that we will fail at it miserably at times.
That fear of the Lord because of those thoughts, what does that mean to you, being afraid of Him, using the excuse that it is a fact that they will always be present because your flesh, your old sinful nature has no other choice but to comply to that law of sin, or understanding that the battle will always be present?
When even errant thoughts enter your mind, and they bother you because of your love for the Lamb of God, you know that you are growing in His grace and knowledge, my friends.