The Consequences of a Wrong Focus
My older sister does not like mice, and has, in fact, a great fear of these tiny creatures. Likewise, one of my dear nieces also has a fear of mice, which is primarily my fault and the result of tiny shrews riding along in the back of my vehicle (a long story, but not a good story).
- Have you noticed how nothing is private anymore?
- Have you realized that what was once private sin is no longer private nor secret?
- In understanding the power of social media, have you seen how the shame of sin lingers long?
We have an enemy, and he has a name. Satan hates us! Reread that last statement, and consider the depth of the devil’s hatred for God’s children. He (Satan) loves it when we SIN. Yes, he tempts us every single day to SIN, and then as we do SIN, he enjoys watching our testimony, our witness weaken. Reread that last statement, and consider the depth of what we lose when we SIN. If these consequences of our SIN were not horrible enough, then let us understand that even when we seek and receive the LORD’S forgiveness, still the devil’s effect lingers long, for our enemy continually resurrects our regret, our guilt—so we stay trapped in our grief.
MAY WE NOT ALLOW SIN TO RULE OUR LIVES.
Most definitely, there are dire consequences of a Wrong Focus.
Thousands of years ago, the sins of two men created havoc for an entire nation and for their enemy, and this could have all been avoided if only they had not disregarded God.
“Now Eli was very old;
(The 1st Book of Samuel 2: 22-25 NASB)
and he heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel,
and how they lay with the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting.
He said to them,
“Why do you do such things,
the evil things that I hear from all these people?”
No, my sons;
for the report is not good which I hear the LORD’S people circulating.
If one man sins against another, God will mediate for him;
but if a man sins against the LORD,
who can intercede for him?”
But they would not listen to the voice of their father,
for the LORD desired to put them to death.”
- Reread this Bible passage, and consider the depth of the devil’s hatred for God’s children.
- Reread God’s Word, and consider the depth of what we lose when we SIN.
The ‘implied’ subject of those previous statements is found in the solitary word—YOU. That’s correct. In English grammar, we are to place the word ‘you’ into the sentence when reading because the author of the sentence has written it as a command. This means the subject is implied, understood, and expected to be ‘you’ even though the word is not explicitly stated. Let’s see again these commands.
- Reread this Bible passage, and consider the depth of the devil’s hatred for us.
- Reread God’s Word, and consider the depth of what we lose when we SIN, when we place our focus on our desires rather than on the LORD.
“Now Eli was very old;
(The 1st Book of Samuel 2: 22 NASB)
and he heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel,
and how they lay with the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting.”
Eli was a priest of Israel chosen by God. His sons were, by birth, also priests. As spiritual leaders, they were to point others to the LORD, but as men, they allowed their focus to be on their own desires rather than to be on the ONE whom they served. Their SIN was great, for they demonstrated a disregard for GOD, and the consequences for their SIN were great.
- Battle #1—4,000 Israelites were killed.
- Battle #2—30,000 Israelites were killed.
- Several Israeli cities were destroyed.
- God displays his wrath and many individuals from the enemy’s camp were afflicted with tumors and died.
- The Ark of the Covenant (the representation of God’s presence with the Israelites) was captured by their enemy.
“He said to them,
(The 1st Book of Samuel 2: 23-24 NASB)
“Why do you do such things, the evil things that I hear from all these people?”
No, my sons; for the report is not good which I hear the LORD’S people circulating.”
- Have you noticed how SIN is not private?
- Have you realized that what we once thought was our ‘private SIN’ is never private nor secret?
Consider the depth of the devil’s hatred for God’s children. Satan loves it when God’s people SIN. Their SIN was great, for they demonstrated a disregard for GOD, and the ultimate consequence for their SIN was great. These two sons of Eli were put to death by the LORD.
“So the Philistines fought and Israel was defeated,
(The 1st Book of Samuel 4: 10-12 NASB)
and every man fled to his tent;
and the slaughter was very great,
for there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers.
And the ark of God was taken;
and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.”
- Let us consider The Consequence of a Wrong Focus.
- Let us ponder The Consequences of our SIN.
- Let us put this biblical narrative into perspective, Aptly Applying it Directly to our Own Lives.
“If one man sins against another, God will mediate for him;
(The 1st Book of Samuel 2: 25 NASB)
but if a man sins against the LORD,
who can intercede for him?
But they would not listen . . . .”
- We must trust the LORD!
- We must not allow ourselves to place our trust in manmade objects, beliefs, or thoughts.
- Our actions render consequences.
- We—who have received God’s gift of salvation—have the Holy Spirit of God, the presence of God, dwelling within us.
- We—who have received God’s Amazing Grace—have been commissioned to, “Go and tell,” but how can we “Tell” when our actions speak louder than our words?
- We—who are God’s children, saved by grace & redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ—are to act like we are His.
- We are to point to others to the Lord and never away (from the Lord) by our words or actions.
Now, maybe you are still reading and wonder why this writing began with the statements: My older sister does not like mice, and has, in fact, a great fear of these tiny creatures. Likewise, one of my dear nieces also has a fear of mice. Let me explain by having us return to God’s Word, as we see one of the consequences for the two priests’ SIN (the two sons of Eli).
“Now the ark of the LORD had been in the country of the Philistines seven months.
(The 1st Book of Samuel 6: 1-5 NASB)
And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying,
“What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how we shall send it to its place.”
[Recall how the ark of the LORD was the dwelling place of God &
Remember how the ark of the LORD had been placed with God’s people by God Himself]
They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty; but you shall surely return to Him a guilt offering.
Then you will be healed and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed from you.”
Then they said, “What shall be the guilt offering which we shall return to Him?”
And they said, “Five golden tumors and five golden mice according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for one plague was on all of you and on your lords.
So you shall make likenesses of your tumors and likenesses of your mice that ravage the land,
and you shall give glory to the God of Israel;
perhaps He will ease His hand from you, your gods, and your land.”
Just imagine this meeting of the enemy of God’s people and how they were trying to appease the God of Israel with their golden articles of tumors and mice. May you and I always consider the depth of what we lose when we SIN & May you and I always consider the consequences of living with the focus of our worship all Wrong.
- May we give God the glory He alone deserves.
- May we never point others who are watching our lives away from the LORD.
- May we always point others to the Way, the Truth, and the Life—to JESUS.