I Never Post Twice In One Day...But...

I was reading through some new-to-me blogs today. As I have little motivation today, I thought blog-surfing would be an interesting thing to do, and maybe I would learn something. And all I got was a bit discouraged with people in general I guess. I think of these verses here in Psalms 139:

"O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
2 You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
3 You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
4 You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord." Psalm 139:1-4

God knows absolutely everything about us. Everything. He sees every single thing I do, and knows what I'm going to think about doing before I do so. I was reading about marriage, and about how it's okay to make mistakes, and as a wife, that makes me really angry. Because read these verses again, God knows what my spouse does, he knows what I do. Now read the next verses:

"You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand! 7 I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!" Psalm 139:5,6

When all is well and we are walking in the Word and are reading our Bible's daily, God blesses us. I know this, because I've seen it first hand. But when one of us messes up... then it's not okay. Not okay at all. It wasn't too long ago that I completely bungled up our finances. I pretty much was responsible for the mess all by myself. God has been helping us work through it ever since, but I know that had I stayed responsible for our finances, and treated them the way God wanted me to treat them, that we would be even more richly blessed now. Instead, I needed to learn a lesson, and my family has been learning right along with me.

See, that's the thing. This may not apply to the single people who might be reading this, but when you are joined in marriage with someone, when you sin, it's as good as if your spouse sinned. God wants to work so much within a marriage, he wants to bless both you and your spouse- be it husband or wife. Sin of any nature on your end affects the spouse. Think of this. For me, it is sinful for me to spend money haphazardly. I really need to keep in close contact with God when I am about to make a major purchase. If I were to go make a major purchase right now and empty our bank account, we wouldn't be able to pay our monthly bills and the whole family would suffer big time. Yet I was the only one who acted of a sinful nature. A person who is unfaithful to their spouse affects the whole family, not just themselves for sinning. A person who commits fraud to get a little more on their tax return will be found out in the end and the whole household will suffer- whether it be just a spouse, or children involved too. A person who spends those few minutes a day on unwholesome internet sites is robbing their family of blessings. Imagine what that person could do if they spent that time in prayer instead, or reading their Bible, or even e-mailing an accountability partner.

The whole thing I was reading this afternoon was absurd. Someone who sins affects more than just themselves, and to me that's not okay and its a terribly selfish mindset. In fact, that's one of the things that helps me out. First of all, I know that God sits here at the computer with me every day. There are angels who stand guard over our computers. I know he knows when I am tempted to purchase something I shouldn't. When I do make that purchase there is instant regret, because I know that God was a witness to that. At the same time, I am also mindful of what my husband will think if I make a purchase. Will he approve? Or would he get angry for being wasteful of my money. See? It's a reason not to sin- not a reason to try and talk myself into it, because only I will know. It never will be me who only knows, and I am so glad that I have my God and my husband to keep me accountable.

More than anything I want God's Blessings upon my life, and I know that my husband wants the same, and together we can reach higher and higher and closer to God than we thought possible. I would never dream of robbing my husband of his blessings to satisfy a whim, and I know that he feels and thinks the same way.

So, to those people who think they can get away with sin because it's only them, think again. God's watching, and you are robbing your family of the best blessings God has to hand out.

(Whew, I feel better now. Maybe this will help balance the yuck out there. )