What Does Your Conscience Say?

So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man. Acts 24: 16 NIV

 

"They don't have a conscience." We often say this to refer to people who commit heinous crimes without showing any feelings of remorse. But everyone does have a conscience. Call it "the little voice" or whatever you choose to call it, our conscience can keep us from wrongdoing and even from getting into serious trouble.

Christopher Reeve said, 
"I think we all have a little voice inside us that will guide us. It may be God, I don't know. But I think that if we shut out all the noise and clutter from our lives and listen to that voice, it will tell us the right thing to do."

The Bible has a lot to say about conscience. Is is just a little voice, or is it the work of the Holy Spirit in us?

When Abraham and his wife Sarah went on a journey, Abraham feared that because Sarah was so beautiful, the men would kill him and take her, so he told her to say she was his sister. Sarah did as she was told and the king did, in fact, send for her to make her part of his harem. But the Lord appeared to him in a dream and warned him not to touch her because she was another man's wife.

The king, very afraid, said, "Did he not say to me, 'She is my sister,' and didn't she also say, 'He is my brother'? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands." 
Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her" (Genesis 20: 5-6). 

In Romans 13: 5, Paul says,  "Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience."

In other words, you don't submit because you fear punishment, but because your conscience tells you it's the right thing to do.


Christians face many temptations throughout life, but we must always listen to the voice of our conscience. We must be able to say like Job,  "I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it; my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live" (27: 6).

Even children have a conscience. Although they may not always confess when they do something wrong, the guilt shows on their faces. Children know when they deserve to be punished. It's the same with us adults. We know we deserve God's wrath, but instead, we receive His grace. However, that doesn't give us the license to ignore our conscience and go on sinning. We must do the right thing. Go to God, confess our sins and ask Him to help us turn away from them once and for all. God bless.

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Let's Go Home - Part 11

Sept 11, 2001 - New York City - People running wildly, their faces etched with fear and horror. They are running without any sense of diection in a desperate effort to escape the destruction that has come upon them.
Dec. 26, 2004 - Indonesia - People running, climbing trees, hiding under buildings their faces etched with fear and horror, as they try to escape the mountains of water that are coming their way.
Jan 12, 2010 - Haiti - People running while the ground collapses beneath them and buildings tumble around them, their faces etched with fear and horror.

These are just three of the scenes that are played out every time there is a major disaster similar to those mentioned above. What are these people running from, and what are they running to? When I wrote my blog on Sunday last about home and shelter, little did I realize that I would be dealing with this same topic this week in a different way.

The catastrophic events now unfolding in Haiti are a grim reminder of the temporary nature of our home here on this earth. It is just a shelter. The presidential palace was just a shelter. Its magnificent structure has been subjected to the wrath of the earthquake in the same way as the more modest shelters. Soon it will be broken up and carted away with the rest of the rubble.

Jesus warned, ""Do you see all these things? I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down" (Matthew 24:2) NIV. My friends, I throw out the call that I made last week: Let's go home. Let's not wait until disaster strikes to flock to the churches. They cannot save us. Let's go home to Jesus now.

In the preceding chapter He said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing" (23:37). Jesus still wants to do that today. Are you willing? Will you run to Him? Don't put it off any longer. I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2)

As our prayers and tears flow with those of the people of Haiti, let us look at ourselves and think, if we were to die tomorrow, where would we end up? Will we be in a permanent, happy home, or a permanent home of torture? Let's pray: Dear Jesus, I have been stubborn, I have not paid heed to Your call to come home to You. I ask You to forgive me of my sins and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Make Your home in me and I will make my home in You, now and forever. Amen.