By Chris WittsSunday 6 Oct 2013Morning Devotions with Chris WittsCultureReading Time: 0 minutes
Transcript:
Have you ever heard someone say,”That is the first mistake I’ve made today?” Or,someone who is a little more arrogant might say,”That is the first mistake I made this year.” And,of course,someone who is totally obnoxious would say,”Well,that is the first mistake I’ve ever made.”
We like to joke about the fact that we make mistakes. We all make mistakes! We might make mistakes because we have poor information,or because we have bad judgment,or just because we made the wrong choices. Mistakes aren’t necessarily sin,but they can become sin,because of the domino reaction. One mistake often leads to another as you try to excuse or cover up your mistake. Soon you are getting deeper and deeper,and a chain reaction has begun.
I have made enough mistakes in my lifetime to pretty much make me an expert. There are 4 major categories of mistakes:
I. PANIC-PROMPTED MISTAKES
There are mistakes that we make because we are in too great a hurry,or because we are afraid that something is going to happen. So we take quick action to try to keep it from happening.
We are worried about something and we mistrust God’s ability to take control. So we take control,and in our panic we make mistakes.
Do you remember the story of Abraham. God spoke to Abraham and told him to leave his homeland and go to a land where God would bless him and his family. He would be the father of a new nation,and all the nations of the earth would be blessed through him. And Abraham went. When he got to the end of his journey,he built an altar to God,and God told him,”This is the land I promised you. Stay here,and don’t move from this land.” Time passes,and Genesis 12:10 tells us,”The crops failed and there was no food anywhere in the land. So Abraham and his wife Sarah went to live in Egypt for a while”. That is a panic-produced mistake. Abraham had promised God that he would stay put. But when a famine came,Abraham was afraid that he and his family would starve. So because he was worried,he panicked and packed up his bags and family and moved down to Egypt. The first domino fell.
The 2nd domino is found in vs. 11,”Just before they got there,he said,’Sarah,you are really beautiful. But when the Egyptians see how lovely you are,they will murder me because I am your husband. But they won’t kill you. Please save my life by saying you are my sister”. That was mistake #2,and the dominoes began to fall. One mistake led to another. The first thing you know Abraham and Sarai were in some very hot water in Egypt,and only the intervention of God saved them. In our lives,we make mistakes,particularly in the area of relationships and money decisions.
I know of people who are there. They made mistakes back when they were 20 or 30,and now they wish they could go back and do it right. Oftentimes in the area of romance,whether it is 20,30,or 50,people panic. In our lives,we make mistakes,particularly in the area of relationships and money decisions.
In finance we do the same thing. It is so easy today to get yourself into a financial bind with credit cards debt. And before we know it we’re in financial difficulties. You see,panic-prompted mistakes often start out as mistakes,but like dominoes,the momentum gets out of hand,and the result is sin.
2. MISTAKES THAT DEVELOP BECAUSE OF OUR NEGLECT
One very clear example of this is King David. David was a very special person. He is called a “man after God’s own heart.” But King David made just as many mistakes as we make. For example,David had 18 wives,and that is a lot of mistakes right there! One of his sons Adonijah was very spoiled and David had never disciplined him. He had a selfish and rebellious nature and wanted to be King and overthrow his father from his throne. (1 Kings 1) David made the same mistake that many of us have made,and maybe are still making. He became so busy being King,being important,being an administrator,that he neglected his family.
It’s easy to neglect the really important things of life like our children and our church. It’s easy to get out of the habit of not going to church,but coming together is an enriching experience.
We all make mistakes,but the important question is “what are we going to do about them?” Acknowledge our sin and mistakes,and ask our loving God for His forgiveness and direction. The bumper sticker says “Christians are not perfect – just forgiven”. Let’s commit our lives to Him,asking for His strength and guidance for each day. We will stumble and fall but God says “Come back to me – I forgive.”
Have a look sometime at Psalm 31 – written by David after a number of serious mistakes.
Source- Melvin Newland,Minister
Central Christian church,Brownsville,Texas.