PrintDiminishing Sensitivity and Relational Estrangement are two consequences of disobedience. The third is….
3. Disturbing Questions.
Left unchecked, this process of decline triggered by an act or posture of disobedience will spread its tentacles into our theology - our belief system. Very slowly we begin to experience a questioning of those truths that we have always believed.
This aspect of disobedience might begin with a question like, "Is this really so wrong?" and move onto "Given my unique situation, am I not entitled to special consideration or exemption?"We eventually find ourselves asking, "What if all that I have believed without question for all these years is not true? Have I actually had a genuine relationship with God or have I just been kidding myself?"
Such questions bear a remarkable resemblance to one recorded in Genesis 3.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" (Gen 3:1 NIV).
That question was posed by the 'Master of Disobedience' - Satan himself. If we do not answer with a prompt "YES" we will become ambivalent and from there it is only a short step to the next claim.
"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Gen 3:4-5 NIV)
Disobedience initiates a process that lures us away from our sense of relationship and intimacy with the Lord. We begin to question that relationship which, in turn, begins to rob us of our assurance of salvation. Maybe this is why I have been thinking about Edith lately.
Is this what happened to that character we call the Prodigal Son? What kind of questions did he ask himself when it says, "…when he came to his senses…"? There is one further consequence that I need to explore next time.
