Lisence to Sin - Maybe for James Bond

Wow! This weekend has been one thing after another! Once again I didn't get the work done that I needed to because crazy stuff came up! To make a long story short, we won one out of three against Faulkner this weekend. Right after the game on Saturday night, we had some serious internal team problems dealing with dishonesty and cheating. Having to sit by and watch some of my teammates suffer in their decisions was a scary thing, especially since a couple of these guys are brand new Christians and are just now realizing that their actions have consequences. It was NOT a good situation and it just reminded me about the consequences that accompany each and every one of our actions. My parents always told me it takes a lifetime to build up a reputation but one stupid decision to make it all come crashing down. AND THAT'S SO TRUE!

Tonight at Newspring, Perry talked about David and how severe his consequences were with his sins (You can check it out for yourself in 2 Samuel 11). Just think, David slept with his best friend's wife and then had his best friend killed when she got pregnant. He tried to cover one mistake up with another. Two wrongs DON'T make a right. Have you ever tried to lie your way out of a lie and it just keeps piling up until you are so far in you don't know how to move, let alone get out of it. That's what happened this weekend with the team. Emotions flared, tempers scourged, and some of the guys were forced to grow up and take responsibility for their actions.

I'm reminded of that Relient K song, "I So Hate Consequences":

"And I so hate consequences
And running from you is what my best defense is
Consequences
Oh God, don�t make me face up to this
And I so hate consequences
And running from you is what my best defense is
Cause I know that I let you down
And I don�t want to deal with that

It just now hit me this is more than just a set back
And when you spelled it out, well, I guess I didn�t get that
And every trace of momentum is gone
And this isn�t turning out the way I want "

I remember my Junior year of High School, I got caught in a serious lie that affected my reputation with my teachers, the faculty at my school, and my baseball coach. I had spent several years building up a reputation and in one fail swoop, everything I had worked for crumbled in my hands. I had never felt so alone and empty. Even my friends didn't look at me the same after that. They all knew the life that I professed, but all that mattered to them was that my actions had not lined up with my talk. It took me a long time to build my credibility back up with my teachers, friends, and my parents.

But, to be honest with you. I wouldn't change that situation if I could, because that situation taught me that I can't get away with lies, I can't get away with sin, and it has partially made me into who I am today. Here are three things the Bible points out that we have to do when confronted with sin in our life and the consequences of that sin.

1. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR ACTIONS:

It took David being confronted by someone else before he finally took responsibility for his actions. Nathan, a prophet, was sent by God to tell David that he screwed up. Now do you really think that David was clueless to the fact that he screw up? No! But David never would have owned up to his actions and taken responsibility for what he had done if Nathan had never confronted him. Nathan told David that the child that he and Bathsheba would bear would die. Unfortunately for David, it took God doing that to finally get David's attention. Now I know some of you are thinking, "How could a loving God kill an innocent baby because of David's actions." YOU'RE MISSING THE POINT! The point is that David would have never been in that situation if he had listened to God in the first place. When all Hell breaks loose because of the decisions YOU'VE made in your life, YOU CAN'T BLAME GOD! It's time we take responsibility for our actions. It's time we stop living in the "Baby-blamer" generation and the generation "Excusers" and start owning up to our sins.

2. HAVE A REPENTIVE HEART (LIVE A REPENTIVE LIFE):

This is the only way God can work in our lives to heal and fix what we have screwed up. David repented before God. Check out Psalms. A lot of this book is David's confessions to God about his sins. David not only admitted that he was wrong but he CHANGED his actions from that moment on. Repentance is a complete, 180 degree turn AWAY from what you want and TO what God wants. The Bible describes it as a TURN away from sin and a RETURN to God, and God DEMANDS IT!! It is amazing what God can do in our lives once we own up to our actions, REPENT of them, and let God begin the healing process in our lives.

3. LET GOD HAVE COMPLETE LEADERSHIP IN OUR LIVES:

It is only by God's grace that we don't fall again. We must turn our lives COMPLETELY over God's leadership. He only wants to make our lives fulfilling and abundant! Jesus didn't say He came so he could beat us over the head with a club every time we sinned, but He also didn't say that He came so that we could sin anytime we wanted. Jesus said that He came so that we could have life and have it more abundantly! And what does that life look like? Abundant life is LIFE WITHOUT SIN AND ITS CONSEQUENCES!! It's by God's grace that we can conquer temptation and live an abudant life.

We have to remember the role of God's grace. God's grace is NOT a lisence to sin; instead, it is a tool that He has graciously given us to defeat sin! James Bond may have had a lisence to kill, but our sin has consequences that are very REAL!

One good thing that came out of this weekend, though, is that I got the incredible opportunity to have a very heartfelt talk with Ben about Christianity and a REAL relationship with Jesus. The conversation spawned off of this situation with the team. He's beginning to understand what life's all about. Keep praying for him and for his salvation. I KNOW God will come through, and I TRUST that He's at work in Ben's heart!