Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way. – Psalm 139:23-24
Consider evil Leaven that is established. It requires a light to be shined on it to be eradicated/
Speaking of insidious growth that is hiding in some yards, have you ever had a bamboo problem? The robust root systems grows like crazy before the shoots surface above the ground and then they grow in every conceivable space and are a pain to eradicate.
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A bamboo root system is like sin in our lives. Even when we strive to repent and turn our lives to Christ, the difficulties can be prolonged and damaging.
Sometimes we don’t know the roots are strangling our obedience to God because the barrier of our self-righteousness, our idolatry our pride can work as a cover, disguising or otherwise keeping the sinful culprit from our sight, even masquerading it as something else you thought you deserved.
There’s a scene in the movie Unforgiven, at the end between Gene Hackman who was about to be one-offed by Clint Eastwood. Hackman having been shot at least once already is laying on the bar room floor dying before his dreams of a peaceful retirement could be attained. He laments, “I don’t deserved this.” Eastwood, whose closest friend (portrayed by Morgan Freeman) was unjustly killed by Hackman, retorts, “Deserved has nothing to do with this.”
You could say that Hackman’s character suffered from an insidious root system. It caused him to cross a line he shouldn’t have, just enough times to cut his life much shorted than he expected, not to mention quite violently.
Eastwood completes the execution of Hackman in an act of Wild West justice. Eastwood’s character was right, there is no promise that we will receive what we think we deserve in life, but for certain we will receive the justice of God’s wrath unless we accept God’s grace.
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Short of death there a plenty of points in our lives that need addressing before we properly surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ, other deaths to self that help bring up to obedience to God’s will and true purpose for our lives.
We may be called to justice at any time by a sovereign God. As Romans 6:23a states “For the wages of sin is death.” There’s no guarantee the number of years or days remaining in each of our lives, only God knows for sure. It’s often the case that our ears and eyes are interfered with by that log or by the deafness caused by a lifetime of sin that resists being repented from, that remain an obstacle to either being saved by God or our living for God with all our heart and soul while loving others the way you would love yourself.
So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom – Psalm 90:12
Have you planted something or had something planted in you that is so impervious or so insidiously entangled into every aspect of your life?
Do you find yourself consumed by anything that causes you to stumble in living at peace with God or peace with others? Any addiction that causes you to feel like you are losing control of your life? Bad habits, perversions, addictions, hate, jealousy, unforgiveness, thoughts to do evil or to think evil of others just because of some superficial scratch of your ego, self-interest, pride, self-righteousness, idolatry of things or people?
Which of these do you think God cannot be instrumental in helping you solve? Do you want to solve it or are you willing to let the bamboo roots keep on spreading, destroying the garden?
Any one of these sin natures taken to an extreme will result in despair, hopelessness, possibly death, spiritual if not physical. And often we need to feel the pain before our eyes and ears see and hear what God needs us to hear. Only in this way can we better achieve obedience to God’s will. Hopefully it does not take receiving God’s wrath in eternal judgment for you to understand it has nothing to do with what you think you deserve, but what God is preparing you for in order to repent and trust in Christ’s Lordship.
For a one minute explanation of the Gospel from the late Pastor John MacArthur, watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCP9UcC7BzE
For a review of the Ten Commandments: https://www.challenyee.com/the-ten-commandments/
All quoted excerpts have footnotes removed, usually from Legacy Standard Bible (LSB), sometimes from New International Version (NIV), on rare occasion the Amplified Bible (AMP).
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