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By Jim Hammond
Many years ago I learned that you CANNOT
always rely on your thirst mechanism to keep properly hydrated.
In 1983, on a fall backpacking trip Gina and I were caught in a
snowstorm (some of you read about that frightening experience, in
another article. If
you didn’t read about it you may do so by clicking here).
It was an early winter in the High Sierras. While we were hiking, we were walking, breathing, human
humidifiers, taking in dry air and breathing out moist air.
We were losing body moisture rapidly.
Our legs were cramping, our stomachs nauseated.
We were a mess. But
the combination of the cool conditions and taking a little drink of
water every now and again gave us the false assurance that we had plenty
of water. We didn’t feel
thirst. In that experience,
our thirst mechanisms deceived us.
Though we did not feel thirsty we were dehydrated.
Later, after our experience, we learned that in such winter
conditions under high exertion, one must not rely upon his thirst
mechanism but systematically drink at least 16 oz of water every hour
because the thirst mechanism will fool you.
There is much to be learned from this.
There are conditions in our hike on this
earth that set us up for this danger—the danger that comes when thirst is not a feeling.
There are many times in life when you cannot rely upon your
feelings. You may not feel
thirsty, but you are spiritually dehydrated, and dangerously so.
You may not feel guilty, but you are guilty and dangerously so.
Take a moment to read the following verses, first a verse from
the Old Testament Law, then a verse from Paul in the New Testament.
(Leviticus 4:13
NIV) "'If the whole
Israelite community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in
any of the Lord's commands, even though the community is unaware of the
matter, they are guilty.”
(1 Corinthians
4:4 NIV) My conscience is
clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.
Leviticus 4:13 speaks of
unintentional sins. You’ve
done them and I’ve done them. Somehow
we tend to excuse these because they were unintentional.
Yet even though we do something unintentionally, or even though
we do something we did not know was a sin, we are guilty of sin.
This means a few important things:
1) Guilt is not primarily a feeling. You are guilty when you have
offended God, whether you feel guilty or not.
2) Guilt is a transgression of God's righteousness, whether you
are aware of your guilt or not. 3)
Your conscience may feel clean and clear though in reality you are
guilty. Why don’t our
feelings match the reality of our condition?
The Bible tells us it is because we are fallen creatures living
in a fallen world. Our own
culture deceives us and trains our consciences according to a lie so
that our consciences become as unreliable as thirst mechanisms in a
mountain winter blizzard. You
can have a defective conscience.
Haven’t you seen
defective consciences all around you?
We see it on the news everyday.
But we see it in places we don’t expect as well.
Haven’t you been surprised on occasion by the sinful behavior
or lifestyle of somebody who claims to be a Christian? It is disheartening, but many confessing Christians
live a lifestyle that is no different than the typical nonbeliever?
Why don’t they feel guilty over some of their choices?
Perhaps, because they don’t believe the Bible as much as they
say they do, or perhaps, because they believe what they want to believe.
They have allowed their theology to be shaped by their experience
rather than the other way around. Sometimes
their tender heart became hardened like calluses when repeatedly
offended. When this
happens, they are just like the Israelites described in the book of
Judges when “everyone did what was right in their own eyes.”
They forgot what is right in God’s eyes.
In the U.S., we are living in that cycle of history again.
People are making up their own definitions of morality.
Let me ask a more
pointed question than “Why don’t they feel guilty?”
Are you ready? Here
it is. Why don’t YOU feel
guilty when YOU sin? Why don’t you do more to keep yourself from sin?
The simple truth is any sin committed and repeated will dull our
thirst and dull our sensitivity to God.
Any sin. Many
believers have lost their way, doing what is right in their own eyes
rather than what is right in God’s eyes.
Let me say it again, in our culture, don’t trust your feelings,
or your own conscience, these may be defective.
Like the defective thirst mechanism, you may be spiritually
dehydrated and suffering from your unrecognized guilt.
Do you wonder why God seems so far away? Why does it seem like he doesn’t your prayers?
Hmmmm. Learn what
God says about sin.
Now here’s the good
news. We can bring our sin
before the cross, our unintentional sins, and our intentional sins.
We can be forgiven, and washed clean.
We are told to maintain the state of forgiveness and cleanness by
taking sin seriously. We
must take repentance seriously, and lean on God in a daily dependence so
that we can please Him. The
good news is that through Christ, we can please God, and be cleansed and
acceptable before God. Once
cleansed, even our feelings, which were defective, can be healed.
Blessed are those who
hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matt 5:6).
Drink often from God’s word and your thirst for it will
actually increase. Your
heart’s sensitivity will also increase.
Our consciences need to be re-trained by God.
Paul put it this way in Romans 12:2 (NIV)
“Do not conform any
longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing
of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will
is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
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