Many people today put sin in categories, from minor to not so bad, to bad, to the worst possible sins. While we tend to put different sins in categories, God has a different perspective. You see, all sin has devastating consequences, from the "little white lies" we tell and beyond. All sin separates us from God and breaks His heart. As a result, we must take our sins seriously.
Jesus provided a picture of the severity of sin and how it breaks God’s heart when He told a story in Luke 15. In this passage of Scripture, Jesus told the story about a man with two sons. In this story, the younger son deeply offended and disrespected his father when he said, “I want my share of your estate now before you die” (verse 12). This request would have deeply offended any father. The younger son in this story was basically telling his father that he was ready for him to die so that he could receive his inheritance. This request certainly broke the father's heart in this story.
Of course, the father in this story represents God the Father. The son in this story represents human beings. You see, we have all broken God's heart. We have all turned from Him and chosen sin. The prophet Isaiah said it this way in Isaiah 53: “All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own” (verse 6). We have all wandered from God like the prodigal son. We have all broken His heart and completely let Him down.
Our sin is not something to take lightly. Sometimes, we so quickly run to the amazing truth that Jesus offers freedom from sin and death that we forget just how devastating our sin is, and it is devastating. May we recognize how heartbreaking our sin is to God and commit to turning away from it.
Take a few moments to reflect on your own life. Is there any sin in your lie that you need to confess? Take that sin seriously and bring it before God today. Acknowledge your sin and tell Him you are sorry for the sin you have taken part in that broke His heart. Ask Him to help you as you seek to walk away from that sin and turn to Him.
1Who has believed our message?
To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?
2 My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot,
like a root in dry ground.
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,
nothing to attract us to him.
3 He was despised and rejected—
a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
He was despised, and we did not care.
4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
a punishment for his own sins!
5 But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.
6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
the sins of us all.
7 He was oppressed and treated harshly,
yet he never said a word.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
8 Unjustly condemned,
he was led away.
No one cared that he died without descendants,
that his life was cut short in midstream.
But he was struck down
for the rebellion of my people.
9 He had done no wrong
and had never deceived anyone.
But he was buried like a criminal;
he was put in a rich man’s grave.
10 But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him
and cause him grief.
Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,
he will have many descendants.
He will enjoy a long life,
and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
11 When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish,
he will be satisfied.
And because of his experience,
my righteous servant will make it possible
for many to be counted righteous,
for he will bear all their sins.
12 I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier,
because he exposed himself to death.
He was counted among the rebels.
He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.
