When Our Consciences Knocks!

WED EP Reflection 093020 (Hosea 4; Acts 21: 15-26)

Often enough children know well their parents’ personality early on. Usually kids know what they can get away with and also, they know well that some things are a no, no. Those who have been in a strong relationship with God also gradually discover that there are things that God is passionate about. One of those things is his honor and glory. It makes God truly sad when people who are in a strong relationship with him commit apostasy. [Which means the sin of idolatry.] Hosea called it spiritual whoredom! It is an inclination to worship false gods. Israel had been walking with God for so long that it was unthinkable that the people of God would be tempted to abandon their relationship with God so easily. In addition to this sin, was also impurity both of which are an abomination in God’s eyes. The prophet Hosea was used by God to denounce their sin.

Now how does this connect with our lives today? The first thing that hit me was that we are unfortunately not far removed from the sin of Israelites. The sin of idolatry is very much here with us. Where are our modern altars of worship? For example, we love the Super bowl, but exactly how much do we love it? or our love for anything that takes the complete affections of our hearts and hold totally our attention, does take the place of our God. The real problem resides in the word desire. It began with Eve in the garden of Eden. Genesis 3: 6 “She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious…” Like Eve, we have a problem of uncontrollable desire. A desire with which we feel that it has to be acted on. Could it be that our recent zeal with which our passions for politics are expressed could as well be worship at the altar of politics? When it feels as if our salvation will come from that Altar and we know well deep down that it can never be the end of the world’s problems or anyone’s personal problems, yet our hearts are totally in it. Or we could be stuck at the worship at the altar of physical pleasures like it was with Israelites as Hosea described (Hos. 4:18). All these are products of our heart’s affections, which takes us to impure thoughts and actions.

In the book of Acts today, we discovered that the early disciples were dealing with rituals of purification which were an attempt to reestablish lost purity or to create a higher degree of purity in relation to the sacred. This is how it went down: “Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having purified himself, he entered the temple with them, making public the completion of the days of purification when the sacrifice would be made for each of them.” At the time, the early church was still dealing with requirements that Gentiles Christians would have to follow. Even there we see the need for purification because of the deep awareness of having done something that is contrary to God’s will. Our consciences are like an alarm that tells us that something has gone awry. This tells us that we are made to honor and worship only God. This is the blue print form of humans. When we deviate from this, things cannot be okay; we are often left discombobulated. Jesus came to redeem us from such situation. He forgives our sins. He took all this burden on himself so we don’t have to carry it. Accept the forgiveness of Jesus and live a new life in Christ.

It is amazing how our need for God is so central to our lives. Our journey into the world leaves us in the face of countless of things we desire to cling to; things we wish could fulfill us but we realize quickly that they can’t. Augustine of Hippo said that: “our hearts are restless until they can find rest in God.” He had faced a desperate search for fulfillment: He used excessive pleasures, distractions, futilities that left him weary of himself. Could it be that the Israelites also were facing this dilemma? When they desired those things, their hearts departed from the presence of God.

This is a real danger for a believer, when, we are not sensitive to what, when the conscience’s alarm is knocking. Lord help us, so we can turn back to you quickly, repent and ask forgiveness and the renewal of our life and commitment to you!

Amen.