So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. (Eph 4:17-19)
My sins blind my heart from seeing You, O God. Cleanse me, for seeing You is why I was made.
You were made in the image of God so that you might enjoy Him. Why then do so many people not enjoy Him? Last week, we discussed two reasons: we are limited creatures, and we sin.
Human limitations are by design. Sin is not. Human limitations bring no blame. Sin does. Sin is disobedience to what God says. Sin can be as blatant as a woman berating her husband and as subtle as a man failing to speak up when God prompts him to. If God says, “Do this,” sin does not do it, and if God says, “Do not do this,” sin does it. Sin is a defect in our ability to receive signals from God. We are broken. The more we sin, the greater the deficiency. Sin blinds us. Sin smothers our sense of the Holy. Sin changes how we think of God, for it makes God small and brushes aside His holiness and justice in order to ease our consciences. Sin warps and severely restricts our understanding and experience of love.
All people sin, but some people stand more firmly in their sin than others. Not all defects are equal. People who know God well will be the first to tell you their sins. The more you live in sin, the less you see it. Many who insist on their ways are incapable of understanding the A,B,Cs of God. The difference lies in the heart. Hard hearts cannot see what soft hearts can. God desires it that way. Remember Jesus’ words? “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure” (Lk 10:21). A heart like a child can see God better than a heart like a scholar. When we stand in sin, we make our hearts less childlike.
People who want to know God must see their sin and be hurt by it. Calvin put it this way: “We cannot seriously aspire to (God) before we begin to become displeased with ourselves” (Inst., p. 37). The reason is that we often cannot see God through our sin. Sin is spiritual cataracts. It is why so many see so little of God. If you really want to see God more clearly, then confess your sin and repent. If you believe yourself a decent person, I am afraid you will know little of God.
