Verse of the day:
Genesis 49:3-4 “Reuben,
you are my firstborn, my might and the beginning of my strength, the excellency
of dignity and the excellency of power. 4 Unstable as water, you shall not
excel, because you went up to your father’s bed; then you defiled it—
he went up to my couch.”
Forty
years have passed, and here Reuben is brought face to face with the sin he
committed against his father Israel. In defiling his father’s bed by engaging
in an incestuous act with Israel’s concubine wife, Bilhah, he brought a
blemish, a stain, on his character that will not be removed. The Tribe of
Reuben is one that will not see power or wealth. The double portion that would
have been allotted to him as Jacob’s firstborn has been given to the firstborn
of Rachel, Joseph. His loss of influence was seen early on when his brothers
ignored his advice when they sold Joseph into slavery. Reuben’s sin, though he
may have been forgiven by God, and his father, was one that had lasting
consequences. Today, those of us who yield to the temptation to sin stand the
chance that part of the consequences we may suffer is a blemish on our
character that will never go away, and will come to haunt us at the most
inopportune time. When we fail to flee from sin, we set ourselves up to give
the demons ammunition to use against us as we try to serve the Lord; for
although God may be forgiving, many people, yes, even Christians, are not. What
that means for us is that there exists a good possibility that someone,
somewhere, will bring up our past, and use it against us, to discourage us,
when we are trying to share Christ with others, or even when we are trying to
give someone else godly advice. The enemy love opportunities to discourage us,
even though we may have repented, confessed, learned something, and moved on,
from our past choices. The reality of it is that even though God can still, and
will, use us, we will face difficulties on the course that the Lord set for us
to run. King David’s family suffered as a result of his sin with Bathsheba, and
the killing of Uriah. In 2 Samuel 12:10, God told David that the sword would
never depart from his house. We later see that his daughter Tamar is raped by
her own brother Amnon, who is then killed, two years later, by David’s other
son Absalom, who also rebels against King David, and tries to overthrow his
kingdom. Like Moses, it is better for us, as God’s children, to suffer
affliction than to enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season (Hebrews 11:25). The
price that we will pay for sin is one that none of us can afford, especially
when it mars our character and reputation; possibly rendering us useless for
certain ministries that the Lord may want to use us in. It is truly a costly
lesson that none of us can afford to learn. The world, and the devils, want us
to be convinced that we will miss out on something if we do not partake in the
sinful behaviors that allegedly bring us great pleasure, and will bring us joy
and happiness. The truth is that what the world has to offer, its sinful ways,
will keep us from attaining true joy, peace and happiness, because true peace
and joy can only come from Jesus. The Lord tells us in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you;
not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid.” Reuben’s sin came back to haunt him forty years
after he committed it. God did not record this in His Word in vain. Let us heed
the warning, and do all we can to protect our character and reputation so that
it does not become a hindrance in our service to the Lord.
P.S. If you
have already done something in your life that has left a spiritual scar, and
put a blemish on your reputation; be of good courage, our God can still use us
for His glory if we have repented, confessed, and decided to get back in the
fight. It is not over until He takes us home.
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