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I am Forgiven
In my first reading of this scripture, the following words jumped out to me:
- Broken
- Forsake
- Consumed
Overall this passage sounded a little doomsday to me. My question is:
Since we are all sinners, will we all be consumed by the Lord?
To look for the definitions, I simply used an online dictionary. When looking at definitions you will realize that there are often a few different suggestions, I like to pick out the ones that help me best understand the context of this passage.
Broken: violated by transgression: not kept or honored
There are many definitions of broken, but I liked the concept of “not kept of honored.” If we sin against God then we are not keeping his covenant and thus we cannot be honored.
Forsake: to renounce or turn away from entirely
Sometimes when I look into a definition, there is another word that I would like a clearer view of. In this case that would be renounce. Renounce: to refuse to follow, obey, or recognized any further. Wow, this holds a lot of weight. To forsake the Lord is not just to turn away from Him, but to actually refuse to recognize his being. When we sin, this is how we are treating Him. How selfish to think that our sins are worth that.
Consumed: to do away with completely
This is another unique opportunity! I decided to look at different versions of this Bible passage to see if there is another word other than consumed. In the NIV the phrase is ” those who forsake the Lord will perish” Perish: to become destroyed or ruined, cease to exist. This definition seems to fit much better in relation to the definition of forsake/renounce. If we refuse to obey God’s law, we will not have access to eternal life, we will just cease to exist.
Question: Since we are all sinners, will we all be consumed by the Lord?
This question is difficult to answer. This passage seems a bit hopeless. We are all sinners, however, remember our theme, we are Forgiven! If we look at this passage as a cautionary tale, it is very hopeful! Keep following God and you will not perish.
Consumed
I feel the phrase “Consumed” really captures the essence of this passage of our I am Forgiven series. In the beginning, I felt pretty hopeless in this passage. We all sin, it’s often a choice. This means that I am often choosing to forsake/renounce my God. However, we must recognize the power of God’s forgiveness! This does not mean that we can sin without punishment. We must recognize that we can do something about our sin! We do not have to be consumed because of our sin, instead, let’s be consumed by the love of our God! By choosing to follow and obey him, we are showing our appreciation of his promise of forgiveness.
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What ways can we show our appreciation of God’s promise of Forgiveness?
One of God’s greatest gifts is forgiveness, but did you know He has also given us individual gifts? Check out this post to see what I mean!