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I know that sin brings with it a sense of condemnation and alienation into our lives - especially to the sensitive heart. I also know that forgiveness is readily imparted to those who confess their sin. But there is something else - something much more dangerous - that is activated if sin goes unconfessed and unforgiven in our lives.
There is a de-sensitizing that takes place in our spirit. We begin to lose our spiritual awareness. The line between what is righteous and what is unrighteous becomes blurred. If that dynamic is allowed to remain we ultimately - in extreme cases - begin to call black white and white black.
In my last entry I reflected a little on the lives - or rather, the end of life - of Judas and Samson. I believe that both these men had become spiritually de-sensitized. Their respective actions certainly suggest this to me. I wouldn't have necessarily thought this about Judas were it not for his attempt to reverse the choices and actions he had taken.
When Judas, who had betrayed him, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse. So he took the thirty pieces of silver back to the leading priests and other leaders. "I have sinned," he declared, "for I have betrayed an innocent man." (Matt 27:3-4 NLT)
Suddenly Judas was re-sensitized. It was as if his eyes were opened to see the evil he had done. But it was too late.
Samson is another case study of this creeping spiritual insensitivity. Then she [Delilah] called,
"Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" He awoke from his sleep and thought, "I'll go out as before and shake myself free." But he did not know that the LORD had left him. (Judges 16:20 NIV)
I find myself asking, "How could Samson NOT know that the Lord had left him?" Isn't the difference between the Lord being present and then absent monumentally huge?! Apparently not. It all depends upon the degree of sensitivity available to us. And that's where the de-sensitizing power of sin becomes so dangerous. It involves a process and it takes time - often a lot of time - but slowly and subtly it neutralizes our spiritual awareness.
There are a couple of other biblical characters that provide examples of the de-sensitizing influence of sin but more about them in my next post
