Watch Out for Sin
Is it possible for us to blatantly sin on a regular basis without it doing something to our relationship with the Holy Spirit?
When we're very close to God, we receive a steady stream of insights and guidance from Him. That's because we're quite sensitive to God's presence and He knows we're receptive to what He has to say to us. We're also in a posture of deeply desiring to obey whatever His will is. God loves it when we're eager and ready to obey Him. As I grow closer to Christ each day, I'm at times astounded by the sheer number of insights He provides to me on a regular basis about living a life that would be most pleasing to Him. I've got all the journal entries to prove it. The fact that God speaks to people may seem unusual to some but it shouldn't. As we keep a close friendship with God, it shouldn't be surprising at all that we would hear from Him regularly.
In our quest to continue receiving insights from the Lord, one of the things we need to watch out for is sin. Avoiding blatantly sinning is crucial to sustaining a strong relationship with God. Is it possible for us to blatantly sin on a regular basis without it doing something to our relationship with the Holy Spirit? In his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul makes an interesting appeal at one point: "Do not quench the Spirit" (1 Thess. 5:19 ESV). The Holy Spirit desires to be in a close relationship with us and He desires to provide us with a steady stream of insights and guidance. But sin has a way of halting that stream of insights coming to your life. The Holy Spirit is like a raging bonfire full of wisdom and guidance to give and you take a bucket of water and throw it in there. You will quench what the Holy Spirit is trying to do in your life with buckets of sin.
This is because sin puts a strain on our relationship with God. Although God will never disown us as His children, sin will put a strain on our friendship with Him. The Bible says that we can grieve the Holy Spirit with our sin (see Eph. 4:30). This shouldn't be surprising. God the Holy Spirit is a person with emotions and He responds with grief to our sinful behavior. We know all too well what happens when somebody hurts us. It becomes hard to communicate with them for a while until that hurt is resolved through repentance and reconciliation. It's not such a far-fetched idea to think that the Holy Spirit too would distance Himself from us should we continue to blatantly sin against Him.
The good news is that we can repent from our sins and reconcile with the Holy Spirit at any time. We always have forgiveness because Christ paid it all on the cross already. We just have to be humble and come before God as quickly as we can to restrengthen the friendship. One bucket of water might not necessarily quench the fire right away. But if we keep bringing buckets and buckets of water, the fire will eventually dissipate. If we've sinned against God, the key is to stop bringing more buckets of sin, which we're prone to do. Instead, we should humble ourselves and repent and we will find our relationship with God reconciled to what it should be. Reconciliation is guaranteed by the finished work of Christ on the cross. So, watch out for sin as it can cause distance between you and God and hamper the work that God is trying to do in your life.
Barnabas the Monastic
Servant of Christ. Husband. Dad. Modern Monastic. I have a wild ambition in life: get as close to the Lord Jesus Christ as I can while on earth. I explore and integrate ancient Christian monk wisdom in modern everyday life. Lives in Canada.
