If you missed the first post in this Back to Basics series, please go here to read it.
I visited with an old friend recently. It had been many years since I listened to the music from the Broadway hit Les Miserables. Les Miz is the story of Jean Valjean, a Frenchman who, despite serving 19 years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread, finds that he will always be a marked and hunted man. It is a love story, a story of survival, idealism, and tough reality. In one particular scene early in the production, Valjean, who has been set free from the chain gang finds himself stealing, yet again, from a Bishop in the village. The Bishop extends mercy to him and does not turn him into the authorities. Valjean ponders how in the world he could have fallen so low that he stole again. Listen to his haunting words:
“I am reaching, but I fall, And the night is closing in,
And I stare into the void—To the whirlpool of my sin.”
Jean Valjean acknowledged that his sin engulfed him like a tidal wave. He realized exactly what Romans 3: 23 (The Message) tells us:
“Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us.”
The New Living Translation offers Romans 3: 23 from this perspective:
“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”
No matter how good we try to be, we just mess up. Oh, we may not mess up in big ways that draw lots of attention to us, but we ALL mess up. We may lie or steal, cheat or sleep around, lust or be prideful, gossip or worship an idol, let jealousy or unforgivenesss rule us or murder another person. You see, it is all rebellion or sin as far as God is concerned. There is no small or large sin. It is all sin to Him.
How does that work? Well, God is perfect. He is holy. He always does the right thing at the right time in the right way and for the right reason. He is above reproach and is NEVER tempted to do wrong. That is His standard of conduct not only for Himself, but also for His creation. That’s you and me.
The problem is that you and I are born with a bent toward sin, or rebellion. We want what we want and we will do whatever it takes to get it. That attitude doesn’t cut it with God. So, as long as we have that bent toward sin dominating us, we will never live up to God’s standard. We can try hard; we can work hard; we can put on a good face, but the bottom line is that we are all eaten up with the filth of sin and rebellion.
So, what’s a person to do? Join me next time for more Back to Basics.
