Sometimes, despite our best efforts, we fail. We lose our temper. Our prayer time slides. An old temptation comes roaring back into our consciousness. We compromise our better selves in some way. Sometimes, these slip-ups seem small, say a missed day of prayer. And sometimes, they are much larger. But no matter the failing, if we aren’t careful, rationalization sets in and we lose our spiritual clarity.
David rationalized when he was on the rooftop and longingly watched a married woman bathe.
“Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance. So David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” (2 Samuel 11:2)
Esau rationalized when he traded his birthright for a bowl of lentil soup.
“And Jacob said, “First swear to me”; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.” (Genesis 25:33-34)
Peter rationalized when he denied Christ.
“And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said therefore unto him, Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not. One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him? Peter then denied again: and immediately the cock crew.” (John 18:25-27)
Naturally, the best thing to do when we fail is to ask God for forgiveness. That’s what King David and Peter did. (2 Samuel 12:1-13, Luke 22:62)
But I fear that, all too often, we brush our failure aside and deceive ourselves into thinking everything is okay within us. But the reality is that if we don’t address our failures with prayer and repentance, they have a cumulative effect on our spirit. In short, unaddressed sin goes from being a small pebble that can easily be removed to a pile of rocks that may require a bulldozer.
Could that be what Esau did?
I wonder if somewhere along the way Esau rationalized his sins so frequently, that his spiritual clarity was gone. What other explanation could their be for his seemingly flippant decision to trade his entire heritage for a bowl of beans?
“Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.” (Hebrews 12:16-17)
Yes, rationalization is dangerous. May we all take heed.
Perhaps that is why the Apostle Paul warned the Apostolic church to be sober in regards to the enemy’s attacks.
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” (1 Peter 5:8)
So for today, let’s take a serious inventory of the thought and intents of our heart. And let’s ask the Lord Jesus to make us aware anytime we might be tempted to rationalize the behavior of our sinful natures.
Be blessed my precious reader. Be strengthened. And may you walk in absolute spiritual clarity today.