To the Point of Blood

Hebrews 12:4 "In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood."

II Corinthians 7:10 "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death."

In my current studies of I Samuel, I am struck by God's interaction with Eli. When Eli found out that his sons were doing things that were clearly against the word of the Lord, he confronted them and rebuked them harshly: "Why do you do such things I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. No, my sons; it is not a good report that I hear spreading among the Lord's people. . . " This, on the surface, appears to be the appropriate response of a father in a situation like this, when he has two grown sons living apart from the Word.

However, when young Samuel is given his message, the Lord says to Eli: "I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about, his sons made themselves contemptible and he failed to restrain them." (3:14)

And there's the difference. And there's why we have so many Christians living such sorry lives. Because they get all worked up over their sin, acknowledging it, crying over it, even repenting - but they never go to the point of shedding blood over it. They never restrain it.

Eli should have cut off his boys instead of simply confronting them. He should have restrained them, not rebuked them. The sin in our life is worth a boatload of tears, but if all we do is acknowledge it and cry over it, we are not going to have victory. All we are is full of regret - a terrible place to dwell.

I think it's time that we began the actual holiness process in our lives, confronting and eliminating the sin. Renounce them.

Proverbs 28:13 "He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy."