Revelations of a Sinner

Revelations of a Sinner.

How does one attempt to write on that topic if the very title seems drastic or even extraordinary  Well, I suppose I shall have to simply go for it.

A Sinner. Ooh...  none of us like that word. (Well, I certainly don't.) It seems Christian society has somehow managed to label and box into categories what we define as Sin, and who of us are sinners.

Truth is, we live in a fallen world, we all sin, and we are all sinners. Ooooh. 

Now bear with me - before you think I am either extreme or hypocritical.

I did say these were revelations. 

Firstly, to be a sinner we all have to do something - Sin.

Unfortunately its so natural to us that it becomes a default mechanism.

Sin is disobedience against God. There, I've said it. You know that, you say? 
Well, I believe what is more important than the act of sinning itself is the attitude of the heart. That's what God sees. 
Something that is not considered 'sin' can be obviously sin - in Gods eyes - if in the heart, the motive is rebellion against God. 
Oftentimes, we are not even aware of this sin, and it repeats on us , creating repetitive default patterns. Sometimes there is sin in our lives we know about but cannot stop doing - chances are it is an established pattern caused by a wrong heart attitude.

God looks at the heart if men. He sees often what we do not. 
Sometimes, I think we believe the confusion and the deception so much we refuse to search our hearts and discover they are stinking rotten.
The Bible says they are. Yet even when we have found, or discovered that rottenness it seems impossible to clean. 
Well, as Christians, we do all know the answer to that. 
Jesus. He came in order that we might be cleansed, made whole, every stain removed.

But.

In order for this to happen, one thing has to change.

The attitude of the heart.

Yep. Jesus can, and will cleanse and restore us if we ask, but in order for that cleansing to remain in all its fullness, something has to change.

Oftentimes we are unclean because of choices we have not made; other peoples influences and decisions, etc. but even the heart of a little child can choose to rebel - against God and its parents - and that little act there is Sin.

In order for Jesus's cleansing to be complete, there is a third step.

Repentance.

Repentance follows confession. Confession is the act of recognising sin and asking forgiveness for it.

All very well, but a child could confess, ask forgiveness  and keep licking a power point  Eventually this dangerous rebellion will destroy them. (Example only.)

Repentance is a changed attitude. Repentance is a choice.
A choice to confess, and to turn away from the old. 
Repentance is not easy.
But when the attitude of the heart changes, God honours that. When the heart changes towards God, the sinful habit dies. Sure, it can be reattached  but that is entirely up to the sinner - he who chooses.

Recently I have been. Studying the Book of Jeremiah. One passage particularly caught my attention:

19 Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“If you repent, I will restore you
    that you may serve me;
if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
    you will be my spokesman.
Let this people turn to you,
    but you must not turn to them.
20 I will make you a wall to this people,
    a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you
    but will not overcome you,
for I am with you
    to rescue and save you,”
declares the Lord.
21 “I will save you from the hands of the wicked
    and deliver you from the grasp of the cruel.”

This verse comes after a pretty heavy passage where Jeremiah is pleading for the lives of the Israelites.

what I couldn't understand about this verse was the way God was telling Jeremia to repent. (To me, it seemed as if he was about the only one upright in the land, and he was delivering God's message to the God's people who had rebelled against Him - the people who, in turn, punished Jeremiah and tried to kill him.

So what did he have a.need to repent for? Asking God for revelation, I waited. A few days . Finally I read another version. This is (paraphrased) what God said to Jeremiah: "Repent of the undeserved thought/s in your heart that I am unfaithful and untrustworthy."

Ouch.

Put simply, Jeremiah wasn't fully trusting God.

Simple enough, it almost seems passable as reasonable. Sure, he is afraid, isn't doubt expected?
Well, that's the thing.
He was sinning, and what was wrong was the attitude of his heart. He didn't trust God.

Mmmm. That's a tricky one. In order for many of us to admit that, to God, let alone to ourselves, means we have to search our hearts and be willing to see ourselves as we are - unclean. Jesus will make us clean, yes!  But first  we must want to be clean, and repent. To turn. Turn from that which is not God. And God, in his faithfulness will restore us.

With this concept in mind, we realise that what makes us a sinner is not so much the sin but the attitude inside  Sin or the act which displeases God is only the surface problem, like a bubbling, or the top of the volcano as it explodes that lava has to come from somewhere.

This attitude is decided by a choice - a choice we make in our hearts, that we often may not even be aware of a choice to rebel, to say no in our hearts, this is sin.
Yes, the outward sin matters, but it id only a reflection of what is within.

....

I challenge you - Search your heart. Ask God to search your heart. Thats scary stuff right there. 

Do you want to live for God or against him? It is the attitude God sees. You cannot serve God and keep sin. Yes, there are things, sins, God waits to deal with. But it is the Attitude which he sees.
God wants us pure, like he is. Cleansed, and available, having a deep relationship with him. 
Search your heart. Repent. Turn from what is not of God. From that which hinders your relationship with him.