The Cost of Sinning

I Sam. 2:25  “If someone sins against another person, God can mediate for the guilty party.  But if someone sins against the LORD, who can intercede?  But Eli’s sons wouldn’t listen to their father, for the LORD was already planning to put them to death.

Our sins not only hurt us, but they cause damage to others.  We may be guilty of leading others into sin or we may hinder other people from worshiping the Lord.  We must weigh carefully how our sins will impact others.  It is a very serious matter when we lead others astray because of our sin.  It is a very serious matter when we damage the faith of others because of our sin.

It’s bad enough when we sin against each other, but Eli’s sons sinned against God and there was nothing Eli or anyone else could do about it.  They had treated with contempt the things of God.  They had used God for their own advantage.  They had brashly treated in an unholy manner that which was holy before God.  They had continued in their sin to the point that there was no turning back God’s anger.  Their time was up.  They had to now face God and account for their sin.

The Lord is not going to let us go on forever with our sin.  Once we understand that we have sinned, we are held accountable by God for it.  We may think we are getting away with it, but we’re not.  God is just and all sin will be dealt with in His time.  No one can stand in your place when you sin against God.  No one can help you when you stir up God’s wrath against you.

The only way we can stave off God’s wrath when we sin against Him is to let Jesus intercede for us.  He alone is qualified to stand between us and God.  He alone has the right and authority to forgive sin.  He alone can take away our sins so that God will not condemn us to spiritual death.  He who refuses to acknowledge, confess and repent of their sins before Christ will surely die.  Do you have sins you need to take to Jesus today?