Devotional - July 10, 2004

What would you do if you woke up to the news you had used up all God's forgiveness and the next time you sin without asking forgiveness, He would kill you? I imagine such fear would change your life. King Saul disobeyed God over and over until one day he crossed over a line of no return and signed his own death warrant.

What God did to Saul is called judgment, an illustration of committing a sin that leads to death. The New Testament reinforces this truth over and over such as the example of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. Their sin was so grievous to God, it resulted in immediate and final judgment when they both fell over dead. This particular sin is identified by our Lord as blasphemy against the Holy Spirit in Matthew 12:31. The apostle John confirmed the same thing when he said there is most definitely a sin that leads to death (1 Jn 5:16).

By now you should be convinced that playing around with sin can be deadly. But has the knowledge of this truth changed your attitude in any way? For example, do you refuse to harbor sin in your heart by promptly confessing it and asking God to forgive you? And do you listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit when He tells you have offended God in some way?

Your answer to these questions will determine your attitude regarding God's word. Are you obedient to what it says or are you just plain ignorant? I remind you that Saul ignored God's word and his days were numbered.

I pray that God's word has presented you with a clear and understandable decision, i.e., what will you do with God's word? I urge you to exercise extreme caution in how you answer. If Ananias, Sapphira or Saul could speak from the grave, they'd probably remind you that lying to the Holy Spirit is a much bigger problem than you realize.

1 Developed from Read the Bible Thru ( 1 Ch. 9:1-10:14 Ac. 27:21-44 Ps. 8:1-9 Pr. 18:23-24 )
2. Scripture comes from the Holy Bible, New International Version; (c)1978 by New York International Bible Society