JANUARY 23 "KEEP ME AWAY FROM WILFUL SIN"

 The Psalmist writes and/ or prays "keep me from willful sins". Would I sin willfully? Aren't all my sins just a case where I was caught off guard, backed in to a corner or baited by Satan? Are there different kinds of sin? Yes there are! There's willful sin, sins of commission and sins of omission. We may think "what did I do now to sin?" However sometimes we have sinned not because we did something but we have sinned because we didn't do anything, these are sins of omission. We failed to act, we failed to judge something, we failed to speak out, failed to correct a wrong, failed to intervene, failed to help, all these are sins of omission. James explains in his epistle that "to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin", a sin of omission! The Psalmist confesses that in him are " willful sins". These are sins that we willfully committed. We were not caught off guard or anything of the such. We thought about and said, " yip, that's what I'm gonna do today and there ain't nobody stopping me!" And we go out and do the deed. These are willful sins and are probably the worse. These are the sins that the Psalmist prays that God would help him overcome. Not only because these sins are the most displeasing to God but because they are also the sins that will bring the greatest repercussions. We could really make a lot of progress in our walk with God if we could get dominion over " willful sins", nothing sets a Christian back further than willful sin and willful disobedience. There is Grace is each day for the sins that caught us off guard, perhaps you were pressed and pressed and lost your temper, there is Grace, but for the individual who sets his or her mind on a specific sin and then completely ignores the conviction of the Holy Spirit, goes out and does the deed, in spite of knowing better.....I wonder how much Grace there is in that situation. No doubt if we should later, truly repent, there will be Grace and Forgiveness, as promised by God, but there will also be grave repercussions for willful sin.