You’ve probably heard, if not used, the expression: ‘big sin and little sin’. My first exposure to such a concept was introduced in the church I was raised in but with more impressive terms: ‘mortal sin’ and ‘venial sin’. Basically, committing a mortal sin was our ticket to hell but those pesky ‘venial sins’...were what most of us were guilty of doing and not all that serious. Yes...we should work on doing better with those, but they posed no eternal consequences.

Others have been brought up hearing terms like ‘sins of commission’ and ‘sins of omission’. That one always makes me smile because it just dooms us all... because of all the good things we fail to do is where we supposedly fail and fall short. And then there is all that ‘sinning’ that happens because of all those ‘bad thoughts’ that land on our noggin.

Sigh...is it any wonder why God likened us to sheep and lamented how His people are ‘destroyed for a lack of knowledge’? (Hosea 4:6; Isa. 53:6)

So let’s see if maybe we can unravel some of this confusion and I’ll start with the ‘sins of omission’. Have you ever been at a red light and saw some miserable looking soul standing there with a cardboard sign begging for any kind of assistance? And when you squirmed during that excessively long light before it finally turned green, you rode off feeling the weight of ‘guilt and condemnation’ for not rolling your window down and handing over some cash. That’s when this battle unfolded in your mind trying to ‘justify, explain, and/or make excuses’ for why you chose not to do anything to help.

Then, the passage from 1 John came to mind about ‘seeing a brother in need and whoever shuts up his heart from them, while having ‘this world’s goods’ to share...how can the love of God be in you? (3:17) Then comes the verse where we get the term ‘sins of omission’ from – James 4:17. –“whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it sin.’

You do realize that Satan knows how to ‘use the word’ as well to mess with your head, right? (Luke 4:9-11). So maybe you did roll your window down and hand that guy a 5 or 10 dollar bill and he grinned a toothless smile, thanking you, as you quickly rolled your window up and drove off. Ever wonder why you felt worse after the fact because you just ‘knew’ they would spend it on booze or drugs? Then a whole series of conflicting thoughts bombarded you...you could have given more...and what about that women on the other side of the street...why not give her something as well? I mean...if you are going to ‘do good’, and you consider yourself to be a ‘Christian’...you don’t really need all those ‘nice things’ you have in your home. You could go sell those and give the proceeds to a local homeless shelter. I mean...why not just drain the bank account right now and go feed all the poor and afflicted people who live in your town or city? Do you see how there is no end to that line of thinking?

And yet, I would imagine there have been times when a certain need was brought to your attention, and you just knew...you felt a compelling to reach out and help someone in need. You probably gave above and beyond what you would have ‘normally’ done and were happy to do so. And afterwards...your heart was just filled with joy and gratitude....because you were keenly aware that God chose you to work through you to bless someone. It was a ‘God Thing’ for sure...and you knew it. Well, consider this: If and when we are abiding in Jesus, we are told that we will ‘walk just as He walked’. (1 John 2:6). And Jesus made it pretty clear that He ‘only does what the Father tells Him to do.” (John 5:19; 6:38;8:26-29; 12:49; 14:31)

That is what ‘sheep who know His voice’ do...they follow and obey. (John 10:27) It’s called ‘being led by the Spirit’. (Rom. 8:14) See you tomorrow? :- )