Cause and Effect

Psalm 69:13 But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord, in the acceptable time; O God, in the multitude of Your mercy, Hear me in the truth of Your salvation. 14 Deliver me out of the mire, And let me not sink; Let me be delivered from those who hate me, And out of the deep waters. 15 Let not the floodwater overflow me, Nor let the deep swallow me up; And let not the pit shut its mouth on me.16 Hear me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good; Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies. 17 And do not hide Your face from Your servant, For I am in trouble; Hear me speedily. 18 Draw near to my soul, and redeem it; Deliver me because of my enemies.

When it comes time to evaluate your life, what will you have to say for yourself?

I know people like to avoid these kinds of thoughts, but isn’t it sort-of inevitable there must be some kind of account we make for the content of our lives and our actions? Doesn’t our conscience drag us into these sorts of self-conflicting moments of really-rational thought?

Phew! If you’re like me, well, that’s enough of that kind of thinking! Just thinking about the process of evaluation is hard enough, and that’s as far as I want to take it. We’ll just leave it right there, okay?

Well, no, not really. It avoids truth, and truth is all that matters. There is truth in the process of evaluation, or else there would be no concern. Absolute truth. Truth that cannot be avoided. “Oh, what have I done?!”

That’s a very common expression for all who encounter truth. The truth is we are all pretty rotten deep down inside. We cover it up very nicely – and that’s why we’d really rather NOT talk about any kind of evaluation process based on our actions, because there is much which has gone unseen by our current associates which cannot stand the light of day without a great degree of shame. “Who knew I was capable of that? I’d really rather no one knew...”

But it’s too late for that because God knows - and God Himself is truth. There’s no getting around it. What we are dealing with is the cause and effect of sin. The cause is us, (me,) and the real effect is: death.

I don’t want to die, do you? Yet, truth teaches me sin causes death, and I am daily committing sin which leads to death. How could I be so stupid? The truth is I agree with God I deserve eternal damnation for the grandiose multitude of sins I have committed in my life. And the truth is I must have a Savior, or else my sin will be judged for exactly what it is. That is the truth of Jesus’ saving grace.

-  Pastor Bill