By Kevin Harris, pastor of the Illawarra Community Baptist Church in Wollongong, NSW
If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.
Psalm 66:18
We all have experienced plumbing problems. From time to time a drain gets blocked and obstructions must be cleared before the drain begins to be useful again.
Sin is like that obstruction in our lives. Like unblocking a drain requires urgent attention, so does sin in our lives.
Here in verse 18, to ‘regard’ is to see. If I can see the sin at my very core and not be disgusted by it, how can God hear me? If I relish it, observe it with pleasure, excuse it, even pretending the sin of my heart is not a big deal, how can I expect Him to listen to me?
Our great problem is sin. It clouds our judgment and blocks our fellowship with God.
At first we fail to see it even exists in us.
Then even once God reveals it to our darkened minds, we resist the light which exposes it (John 3:19-21).
Even then, we tend to dismiss it as trivial. Therefore God has to make it ‘exceeding sinful’ (Romans 7:13).
God goes to great effort to bring us to the place where we are willing to confess our sin to Him, which means to agree with Him about it. Only then can He forgive and cleanse us (1 John 1:9).
Sin doesn’t disgust us like it ought to. But it is abhorrent to our thrice-holy God!
He refuses to listen to us when we harbour sin in our bosom, cover it up, make it seem insignificant, and cherish it.
How can I be a traitor to Him, refusing to obey His commands, and then hope He will hear my petitions? Such living is illogical and wicked.
Father, show me my sin, for I’m slow to see it. Cause me to fiercely hate sin, for I’m slow to part from it. Help me repent of it and confess it and forsake it. Unblock the drain, so that my prayers can flow freely to Your ear. I ask this in the Name of the Lord Jesus, Amen.
This article was written by Kevin Harris Dapto pastor of Illawarra Community Baptist Church.