Day 76/365- Deuteronomy 13:6-9

"A Matter of Life & Death"

"Suppose someone secretly entices you—even your brother, your son or daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend—and says, `Let us go worship other gods'—gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known. They might suggest that you worship the gods of peoples who live nearby or who come from the ends of the earth. But do not give in or listen. Have no pity, and do not spare or protect them. You must put them to death! Strike the first blow yourself, and then all the people must join in. (Deuteronomy 13:6-9 NLT)

Romans 6:23 says, "The wages of sin is death." All that death can ever produce is sin. God told Adam & Eve that if they sinned they would die. They & everyone ever born since them has died. Sin entered the world & death with it.

In these first five books of the Old Testament we learn that sin is always a capital offense. Every time someone sins, death follows as the consequence. In this passage in Deuteronomy, God tells the people that if someone attempts to entice them to follow after other gods they should kill them immediately. This is how serious God takes the worship of his people. God is to be worshipped or death is the result.

We already know that God takes sin seriously but this passage takes it a step further. If your brother, son, daughter, wife, or best friend suggests idolatry then you are to have no pity & stone them. Can you imagine this? Could you put your wife, son, brother, or best friend to death? Could you be the first one to cast the stone at your baby girl? Some days I know parents may feel better if they could just throw a rock at their kids but this is serious isn't it?

What emotion does this evoke in us? What does this make us think about God? I'm not sure I could do what this text requires. See, God is saying that holiness trumps even the closest, most sacred of human relationships. That sin must be put to death & fought with so much zeal that we are even willing to see our loved ones perish for disobedience.

I'm not sure that I'm there with my hatred & personal war with sin. We often treat sin flippantly as if it's a small thing. We joke about it & indulge in it thinking God will just forgive us. And in this we forget that sin always costs a life. It either costs us our life or the life of the Son of God. If we trust in Christ & his death on the cross we have to realize that it's our sin that cost him his life. Sin is not a laughing matter but it's a matter of life & death.