God sent a plea to his people directly from his heart. It’s as if he has tears in his eyes, almost as if you can hear the word please. It’s all over this scripture. The plea today is to turn to Jesus with all your heart.
Ezekiel 33:10-11Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live? Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
These verses on through verse 20 tell us what sin is and how God feels about it. It’s informative, a learn-able truth we can hang onto. The children of Israel had fallen into sin. Still professing to be the people of God they had gone to sleep spiritually and become satisfied with it. The Lord threw them a caution flag to get their attention. They tried to serve the Lord but justified living for themselves. God has given us the remedy. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Jesus was tempted but overcame so we could have help in our time of need. Our faith matters. The direction is turning from sin and to God.
We have a problem with sin. The devil works to get us to say wrong things and do wrong things. Don’t we all give in sometimes? Don’t we all think wrong at times? In verse 10 he told them to own up to the fact there was sin in their lives. It’s good to talk about the strides we’ve made with the Lord, but when we sin it makes us stumble. A yielded life to God is the only way to keep going forward. There is sin all around us. It’s a sin-geared world with the intention to influence us to sin. The devil’s aim is to keep the lost unsaved and cause the Christian to stumble. He doesn’t give up either. I get tired of him. He’s the same as he was in 1972 when I got saved. He’s merciless in his efforts. We need the Lord now as much as we always have. That’s why the scripture here says to turn from our ways. We’re not above or beyond sin. I’m saved, but if I get careless I will drift away from God. I have to keep myself turned toward the Lord and not toward sin and disobedience, not toward the devil. We’re all within reach of the Savior, and he can pull us back where we need to be.
The sin around us is not as bad as the sin within us. It’s easier to see the faults of others than what is wrong in us. We’re all in the human pot together, and the devil turns up the fire. We’re prone to sin by our Adam nature. That’s why we have to stay close to the Father. The model prayer of the Lord teaches us to say Our Father, which art in heaven; hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. We see from this that there are two things we need daily: our provisions and a daily dealing with sin. We fail each day. Before we get too far away, we need to deal with the sin in our lives.
What society used to agree with the Bible on as sin nowadays is legal. Because some things are legal, people feel they are all right. Some believe it’s up to how each person feels about matters as to whether it is sin. Just because everybody says something is okay doesn’t necessarily mean it is. If trusting the great minds of today and ignoring what God says are your choices, who would you rather trust with your soul—the philosophies of a fellow sinner or a sinless God? The only one to trust is the one beyond sin. He’s the one who was tempted in all points like we are but never sinned. We’re saved by acknowledging Jesus as Savior. We have to keep turned to the Lord and not be run off the road into the wilderness away from him. We can’t make our journey to heaven on the crooked path; we have to go by the straight and narrow road.
Sin is a transgression of a known truth. What God says is wrong is still wrong regardless of how enlightened we think we are. Church people are being led astray. The Bible tells us what sin is and what happens when we disobey God. If we don’t go by what God says we will die. Why would you choose to die? When we steer our own life we make a wreck of it. Turn the steering over to God; that’s the only way to get through the crazy roads of this life. The only one who can get us through is the one who saved us.
God doesn’t like it when we sin, but we can blame no one but ourselves for it. We can’t blame God. We can’t blame another person. It is our sin—your sin, my sin. You and I are responsible for our own sin. We’re not children of the darkness anymore. We are to walk in the light. That’s why God said to turn.
You cannot better yourself to the point of saving. You can’t turn over a new leaf. You must turn to God. The way has been provided for us to go to heaven and miss hell. You and I can’t change ourselves. All we can do is turn to God and let him make the change. Why on earth would you risk your eternal soul and keep sinning? You can’t cleanse yourself, but you can turn from your sins to God and let him cleanse you from sin. You must turn from your transgressions and acknowledge them to the Lord.
If he is speaking to you now, turn to him. Let him do the rest.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 