The Israelites had such a predictable pattern —
Loving God
↓
Slipping away from Him
↓
Sin
↓
Oppressed by an enemy
↓
Remorse & repentance
↓
God’s deliverance
↓
Return to loving God
↓
Repeat
In the book of Judges there is a repeated phrase: But when they cried out to the Lord, He raised up for them a deliverer.
Perhaps is they cried in God’s presence more often, they cycle could have been broken.
It’s the same for us — instead of using tears as a cure, how about using them as an immunization? How about crying in God’s presence before sin has cruelly oppressed us?
I think if I shed tears over my “little” sins more frequently, it would keep me from much deeper hurts.
The Bible says, “A broken and contrite heart, O Lord, You will not ignore.” Holy Spirit, break my heart over the smallest of sins so I may quickly repent and return before I am enslaved by my sins.
I believe tears call God to our help, but how much better if they are used to immunize us against sin!
Craig T. Owens 
July 16, 2010 at 8:49 am
Craig, I benefit from your sketch of the O.T. Jews pattern of sin. It exposes my own pattern. It strikes me that the pattern is the same as the “addiction cycle” of sobriety/stress/acting out/shame & guilt/sobriety. Could it be that we humans are, in our broken natures, addicted to sin? The wonder, glory, and joy of Jesus entering our lives is that he breaks the cycle. Yes, we may “relapse” but our compulsion to sin grows less, and our focus on “healthy” new patterns increases because of his “life in us.”
Bottom line: In receiving the new life of Jesus, my love of Jesus is more fascinating and compelling to me than my fascination with sin. I don’t just move away from sin, I move toward Jesus.
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July 16, 2010 at 10:05 am
Right on target, Frank! I really like your “bottom line” conclusion on your comment: I want to be more fascinated and captivated by Jesus than anything else.
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