Cherished Sins

“If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer.”

Psalm 66:18-19 ESV

cherish (verb): to protect and care for; to nurture or keep with loving-care

Cherished sins. Often called “besetting sins.” Those pet struggles you keep going back to in moments of weakness for comfort that never lasts. Those cold and lonely cheap substitutes you turn to as soon as the lights go out. You know they’re wrong, but in your weariness they seem so much more accessible for comfort than an invisible God.

But that comfort quickly turns to shame, and you look back to all the moments of temptation where you felt the Holy Spirit pull up on your reins, urging you to stop, to turn back. I could have stopped there. Or there. But like a mindless beast still enslaved to the instincts of the flesh, we accept the chains of sin Christ broke in love and bind ourselves once again to the lonely dark where the light of His face never shines.

Turn away. Turn away from the false comfort of false idols. Turn away from the shame and guilt they bring. Come to repentance. Don’t ignore the Spirit’s call, do not quench the flame Christ left burning within us, the light of His presence. Don’t hold close, don’t protect or nurture your sin until you find yourself justifying the very disease consuming your soul. Come for cleansing to the great physician. Pray for forgiveness. God will hear the repentant prayer.

“Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!”

Psalm 66:20 ESV