Uncomfortable, Why?

Micah 6:13-15

13 Therefore, I have begun to destroy you,
    to ruin you because of your sins.
14 You will eat but not be satisfied;
    your stomach will still be empty.
You will store up but save nothing,
    because what you save I will give to the sword.
15 You will plant but not harvest;
    you will press olives but not use the oil,
    you will crush grapes but not drink the wine.

I have a pair of shorts that I used to like. They fit perfectly and looked good. I wore them a couple of times and washed them, hoping to wear them again. Fresh and clean, they sat in my drawer until it was the perfect time to wear them. I put them on, but they felt tight. I had not gained any weight, so I figured they would stretch a little, but they did not. It appears that they shrank in the dryer. Once a great pair of shorts, they are now a useless garment that I do not wear anymore.

Israel had a sin problem. They became comfortable and relaxed in their new place. It looked like all was well. You could see the temple, the priests doing their duties, and the customary sacrifices being made, and it all looked like a nation after God’s heart. Slowly, they began to relax and let sin creep in, eroding the fabric of truth that the Lord had set up through Moses and Aaron.

On the outside, they looked great and holy, but sin was rotting God out of their lives like gangrene from an unattended wound. In verses 6-7, the Lord asks a rhetorical question: what shall we come to the Lord with? Thousands of rams for sacrifice? Ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Your firstborn? In verse 8, it reads, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

What was the effect of this sin they refused to get rid of? Verses 13-15 tell a grim story, a story you might be a part of right now. You eat but are never satisfied; your stomach is still empty. You store up but save nothing. You plant but do not harvest. You press the olives but do not get to use the oil. You crush the grapes, but do not get to drink the wine.

If this sounds like your life right now, you have a sin problem. Just like those shorts of mine, they looked great and were comfortable once, but now they are too small and uncomfortable. Sin is fun for a season, but if it is not dealt with, it will rot your goodness away until your life looks like the verses above, where nothing you do seems to stick or make a mark.

I am not a doctor, but the text here seems very clear. What does the Lord want? For you to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with the Lord. You cannot do that while habitually practicing sin. That is like wearing those shrunken shorts and pretending they feel and look good; they do not. Jesus said, “My burden is easy, and my yoke is light.” That sounds a lot better than pretending all is well while sin is eating away at your core. Today, try Jesus. Commit everything you do to Him. Close your eyes and tell Him you commit your life to Him. He has great plans for you, but you must remove the sin and follow Him.

Prayer: Father, help me remove the sin from my life and never go back to it again. I know that through the power of the Holy Spirit, You will help me walk away from sin and be free from its chokehold on my life. I commit my ways to You, in Jesus’ name, amen.