Tuesday, June 6, 2006
This would come under the heading of, "You know it's going to be a bad day when..." My wife and I were stopped at a stoplight during the rush hour one morning. We were on a local street that intersects the busiest highway in the area at that point. Now there are two lanes, OK, but we were in the left one - left turn lane. The light turned green, I started turning left, and I noticed another car next to me on my right turning left from the right lane. No, no, not supposed to! That's illegal, and it's pretty dangerous at this intersection. Well suddenly, our friendly scofflaw sees this blinking light in his rear view mirror. He has just made that illegal turn right in front of a police officer! Duh! Needless to say, he was pulled over on the shoulder before he'd even cleared the intersection. He's not even out of the neighborhood yet and he's been caught!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Always Caught."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Timothy 5:24. Now, there's some unsettling news from God's book here. It says, "Be sure your sin will always find you out." See, if God knows, you are already caught, and God hasn't missed a moment. His video camera rolls 24 hours a day. It's inescapable! Our neighbor at the light might have thought, "If the law doesn't see me, this is fine." Boom! Caught!
The fact is when it comes to people catching us, we often do get away with sin. Your parents may never find out, your mate may never know, your boss may never catch you, your friends may never find out, or your pastor, or your congregation. It sets you up with the myth that you're getting away with it. Nobody ever gets away with a sin. The bill may be delayed, but the bill always comes. Adam and Eve's death sentence came later, but it came. Postponed judgment never means judgment has been canceled.
1 Timothy 5:24, "The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them. The sins of others trail behind them." One way or the other you get caught; sometimes earlier - sometimes later. Sooner is actually better. The longer it takes for the bill to come, the more the interest accumulates.
That might be the reason God has asked me to talk about this today. In His love, He is telling you to face this sin before it faces you; with much greater consequences than if you choose to deal with it now. Today is the least expensive day you will ever have to face that sin. Maybe it's a sin you've committed, you've lied, there's been immorality, cheating, maybe it's stealing, backbiting, lust. It could be rebellion, messing with the occult, verbal or physical abuse. And then, it may be a sin of omission, a mate you've neglected, children you've neglected, neglected commitments, neglected time with your Lord. But every day, the sin calculator is running, the consequences are growing, and the gap between you and your God is increasing.
You're always driving with your eyes in the rear-view mirror, wondering if you are going to get caught. Isn't it time to get free, to get forgiven? It's far better to choose to come to God with that sin than to have God come to you with it. This is the day to bring it to the Cross where that very sin helped nail your Savior to the Cross, and to claim that wonderful promise of Acts 3:19, "Repent, and turn to God, and your sins will be wiped away, and the times of refreshing will come from the Lord."
The driver that made that illegal turn that day pulled over as soon as he knew he was caught. Well, put your sin in Numbers 32:23, "Be sure your sin of" - there it is - "will find you out." You see, you are already caught. It's time now to drop that sin. Yes, you're caught, but because of Jesus you can be clean.