Testimony Dethroned by Sin: My Nebuchadnezzar Experience (Part 2)
Focus on the Recovery Process
At one time, car alarms, when set off, brought heightened attention and concern to those within earshot. Now days, when a car alarm goes off, it is commonplace to see individuals carry on their usual business as if nothing out of the ordinary is going on. King Nebuchadnezzar demonstrated this same type of desensitization and hard-heartedness to the divine alarms given to him. His heart was shut off from the influence of God by years of sinful habits. This is the most terrible place in which one can be. “Every act of transgression, every neglect or rejection of the grace of Christ, is reacting upon yourself…not only making you less inclined to yield , but less capable of yielding , to the tender pleading of God’s Holy Spirit” (Steps to Christ, E.G. White, pg. 33). The consequences of his continued and persistent choice to cherish sin resulted in a loss of his kingship for seven years, a loss of his sanity, and even a loss of his humanity. Do you notice a common theme? There is always loss when sin is embraced. King Nebuchadnezzar was no longer an honored tree, but a humbled stump. I may have not been ruler of a vast empire, as Nebuchadnezzar was, but I lost my kingdom as well. All the good things God gave me were swept away in a tsunami of sinful consequences. My loss I estimate of no less severity to that of King Nebuchadnezzar’s. I cannot even put into words the pain I have felt, the pain that I have caused, and the shame that precedes me like a badge, because I refused to relinquish my sinful conduct. Don’t miss the point: “Sin can be indulged in only at the peril of infinite loss” (Steps to Christ, E.G. White, pg. 33). More than earthly loss, clinging to sin yields the greatest loss of all – the exclusion from heaven and an eternally-severed relationship with our Savior, who loves you immeasurably. This is the severest lose-lose situation imaginable. Learn from my grand mistakes and those of Nebuchadnezzar – do not continue in a life of sin unless you are prepared for devastating loss.