"He Understands"

"And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." 1 Samuel 15:22

Have you ever heard anyone try to justify their disobedience to God's word by saying, "Well, God understands"? Perhaps you have said this yourself? God understands that we are made from dust. He understands that we are weak, but does He "understand" when we disobey? Is He sympathetic toward it and overlooks it?

Did He "understand" when King Saul disobeyed His command through the prophet Samuel? Did He just say, "I understand, Saul, it is all right", or did He judge Saul's disobedience and take the kingdom from him? Did He "understand" when Moses struck the rock twice when he was told to speak to it? Did He tell Moses that He understood the pressure that he was under having to deal with all those people, so He would just overlook Moses' disobedience? Or did He not allow Moses to go into the promised land because of it? Did He "understand" when David committed adultery and murder? Did God excuse it because He understood that David just had a weak moment?

We are the ones who don't understand God's perspective on disobedience. If we did, we would not try to excuse it. If we saw it the way that God sees it we would not try to justify what we did. What God understands about our disobedience is that it is sin. God doesn't take the matter of sin lightly. After all, it was sin that caused His Son to come to earth and die on the cross. It cost the Blood of the Jesus in order for our sins to be forgiven.

You may say, "But what about grace?" What about it? Thank God for grace, but grace isn't a license to sin and neither does it excuse us so that we are free to sin. Grace withholds the punishment that sin requires when we repent of our sins. Grace makes a provision for sin to be forgiven. But God's command will always be that we sin not.

Stop being flippant about sin. Stop trying to justify it. Stop trying to excuse it. Stop trying to make it acceptable to God. Stop trying to reason it out. God understands that we do sin in weak moments and He has made provision for us when we do. But He does not overlook our sin.

Have a great day. The only thing that God understands about disobedience is that you disobeyed.

For further reading:
Romans 6:1
1 Samuel 15:20-26
Numbers 20:7-12
Deut. 11:26-28