No guilt

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

NO GUILT

Prov 28:17

17 A man tormented by the guilt of murder will be a fugitive till death; let no one support him.

NIV

We immediately think of the first murder committed upon this earth when Cain killed his brother Abel. Although God cast him from his place, he did not destroy him or take his life, in fact because Cain feared that someone would kill him, God put a mark in him so that people would know not to kill him. God made a covenant with Cain.

Gen 4:15-16

15 But the LORD said to him, "Not so; if anyone kills Cain , he will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. 16 So Cain went out from the LORD's presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

NIV

But Cain was to be a restless wander, no longer being able to work the soil and get a good crop, but all he would get would be weeds. This is the torment mentioned in this proverb. Cain was a fugitive till death. The ground no longer supported him.

Gen 4:10-12

10 The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth."

NIV

But how does this all apply to our lives today? Surely those of us who are born again, who have our sin forgiven because of Jesus should have no guilt of murder. Of course we would never commit such a horrid crime as to take another life. But then could we make the leap that we are in fact taking a person’s life by not sharing the gospel message with them when we have the opportunity? Are we keeping them from gaining eternal life and in fact being partner in their death? Although it is true it is the function of the Holy Spirit to convict men of sin and in need of repentance, it does not absolve us from the command to go into all the world and preach the good news. Why would Jesus give his disciples, and us for the matter, the command to go into all the world and preach the good news if it was entirely up to the Holy Spirit? So we do play a part in the salvation of others. We are responsible to God for their hearing the message. If we are not telling them, thus keeping it from them then who is to say they will ever hear the message at all? We would hate to think we would be nothing more than a wanderer or soil that would not bear any fruit. We would hate to think ourselves tormented by the fact we did nothing about telling people about Jesus when we could have. We certainly cannot live in the manner of us four and no more. We absolutely cannot live strictly thinking of ourselves and our relationship with Jesus. Then our lives would only be about ourselves and we would be forsaking all those who God desires to come to the saving knowledge of Christ. Why do we think God blessed such men like Billy Graham or D.L. Moody? They were all about sharing the message. They dedicated their lives to sharing the message. We may not be like them, but we are still to go into all the world, maybe not the physical world as a missionary might, but into every aspect of the world. We are to go into the world of construction, of medicine, of business, retail, wholesale, manufacturing, finance, or sales. We are to go into the world of science, engineering, computing, communications or whatever other form where people are engaged in making a living. This is where we love our neighbor as ourselves, making sure they have the opportunity of gaining eternal life. Maybe we cannot actually preach like a Billy Graham, but we can witness as to what Jesus has done in our lives. A witness only can testify to that which he has seen, done, or heard. Let us not have any guilt. Let us no aimlessly wander through life bearing no fruit. The fruit we bear is not for us anyway, it is for others to pick from our lives. So let us be about the work of the Father. Let us speak up and have no guilt.