CityLight Church – Blog

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Day 284: The Effects of Sin

The Daily Word: Monday, October 11th, 2021
Jeremiah 16:16-18:23
1 Thessalonians 4:1-5:3
Psalm 81:1-16
Proverbs 25:6-8
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
“The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; with the point of a diamond it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of your altars…” – Jer. 17:1 

“Sin” is the Hebrew chatta’ah,[1] which means to “miss the mark.” Sin simply means wandering from the way of God: incurring guilt that results from failing to live up to God’s command.

Jeremiah, as inspired by the Holy Spirit, explains why sin is so serious. Sin cannot be performed and then simply forgotten. Sin is “written with a pen of iron; with the point of a diamond it is engraved on the tablet of [one’s] heart.” Sin permanently damages your heart. There is no mincing words here: sin does serious and permanent damage, and it does so quickly.

When you have sex outside of marriage, you cause permanent change in your heart. When you live for money or any other idol instead of God, you inflict pain on your heart. Whenever you do anything outside of God’s will for your life, your heart is forever altered: the painful memory of going through something that is not God’s design for your life is etched onto the “tablet of [your] heart.”

But where sin corrupts, God restores! You have sinned.[2] You have missed the mark! And your heart is damaged. But watch what God does when you come to Him:

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. – Ezek. 36:26

Sin cuts into your heart! But God, by the power of His Holy Spirit, will give you a “new heart.” He will completely remove the old heart of stone that has been permanently engraved with a record of your wrongs, and replace it with a heart of flesh that can never be damaged again. Isn’t the Gospel beautiful? When you come to Jesus, He makes “all things new” (Rev. 21:5)!

Your heart needs healing. Come to Jesus! Not only will He repair what has been damaged; He will completely replace your broken heart with a new heart that can never be hurt again.

Prayer:

Father, thank You for healing my heart! I need You to do a mighty work in me. And I know that by the power of Your Holy Spirit, I can have a new heart. Take my cold heart of stone, and turn it into a heart of flesh so I can love You with all that I have and all that I am, in Jesus’ name!

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

[1] Strong’s H2403

[2] “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” – Rom. 3:23

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