The Contumacious Child

The Contumacious Child

As a Christian in Training it was bound to happen sooner or later.

It did. 

Let me tell you about it.  When you were young did you ever do something that your parents told you not to do?  And then did you do it while they were watching you?  Almost daring you to cross the line?

And then you did it.

That willfulness in a five dollar and twenty-five cent word is called ‘contumacious’.  It means stubbornly or willfully resistant to authority.

We as sinners are often ‘contumacious children’ of God.  We are saved, we are His saints, but sometimes we just get it into our heads to do something that we know is wrong.  BUT we will do it anyway.  Now, there are big sins and there are little sins (in our book) and in my case here I am talking about a little sin.  But it is a sin none the less.

I was ‘contumacious’ because I knew what I was doing was wrong.  But I went ahead and did it anyway.  It was almost like I was telling the Lord, ‘This is what I want to do and I am just going to do it.’

So the sin was committed.  And immediately, I was remorseful.  I was ashamed, I was sad.

It was kind of like those signs you see at work, you know the ones that say “9,999 days without an accident!”  I felt like the poor sap that wiped out the ten thousand day record with his one little slip up!

“I can’t believe I did that.”

Yes, you could say I just felt guilty but it actually goes far deeper than that.  I was ‘convicted’.  I had sinned against God.  I knew He was disappointed with me. 

The up side to this (if there is one) is that once you are a contumacious child and you sin and you’re convicted of your sin like I was . . . you know without a doubt that the Holy Spirit lives within you and YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD!

So my only recourse was to get down on my knees and ask for His forgiveness.  To pray earnestly, and then remember that part about the Lord’s forgiveness everyone forgets is the conclusion:  “Go and sin no more.”

But the hurt is still there.  I had disappointed my Lord and I know he has forgiven me but something just isn’t right. 

But here is the second and more important part of the story.  I needed to repent of my sin.  Not just a ‘Sorry Lord, my bad!’ but a genuine get down on my knees type of repentance because my sin had separated me from God.  Maybe not completely but the relationship was damaged none the less.  My joy was gone. 

I really did feel like the guy in the accident.  I felt that I would have to start all the way over again to win back the Lord’s trust.

But I didn’t.  Instead, I repented.

In 2 Samuel 12 verses 1 -24, Nathan confronts David about committing adultery with Bathsheba.  David repents of his sin to God in Psalms 51. 

In the Psalm it is clear he is remorseful.  He admits that he has sinned against God and he cries out for mercy.  “Restore to me the joy of your salvation.”   He asks God to “create in him a clean heart and spirit.”  Then he tells God that then he will “sing of his forgiveness” and praise him!

Like David did in Psalms 51.  I prayed.  While forgiveness takes away the sin.  Genuine repentance restores our relationship with God back to what it was before the sin was committed.

The process of repenting tells God that you are going to permanently change direction.  You are going to turn away from those sinful behaviors and return to a life following God’s laws.

It also means you have a clear awareness of sin.  You know what you did you know why it was wrong.

And finally, it means that you have a clear desire to restore your relationship with him and continue to get closer to him by observing his commandments.

At the end of this, if you were sincere, you get your joy back!  Like a burst of sunshine on a cloudy day, your relationship with God is instantly restored!

Now, let me say this if you are expecting Repentance to fix your job, your finances, your marriage or any other worldly problem it’s not going to!

Repentance is painful.  But it’s worth it because God will heal us.  Our faith in Him will only be stronger.  He will make our life attractive to others because of his presence in our lives.  And finally, God will make our lives a blessing to others.

Note –

I wish I could say that I knew all of this from the start.  I didn’t.  I knew I had sinned and I had a problem, and I needed some help.  Most everyone could probably have read this in the Bible and understood it without help. 

But not me.  I didn’t, I cheated and looked things up on the internet, and then being dense like I am (Roll Tide!) I did something else.  I called 1-800-Dial-a-Preacher and my very good friend Gene Lee answered my call for help and helped educate me and steer me in the right direction.  So this will be the lesson for this Sunday’s session of the ‘Young Adult’s in Denial’ Sunday School class.  Text:  Hosea 14, Psalms 51