Israel's Cycle of Sin-Is It Any Different Than Our's? Part IV

Judges 2:10b "...and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel."

The answer to breaking the cycle of sin is spelled O-B-E-D-I-E-N-C-E. Partial obedience is not obedience.

"A soldier was being tried by court martial. He h ad been ordered to be on guard duty from midnight til seven in the morning. His commander asked him why he didn't obey the order he was given. He replied that he did obey. He told him he was awake until 6:00am when he fell asleep. The prosecution stated that he had disobeyed. they told him that during that one hour that he disobeyed the enemy could have come in and taken their camp."

Obedience brings gain...disobedience brings loss. When the children of Israel obeyed God they were blessed. When they disobeyed, God removed His blessings from them. God demands and commands that His children obey Him. We can rest assured that God will reward obedience and punish disobedience.

To receive and enjoy God's blessing we have got to decide to follow and obey the Lord.

So to break the cycle of sin in our lives is to obey God. The cycle of sin in my family was broken in my life when I first accepted Christ as my Savior. The cycle of sin could still continue in my family even after being saved if I don't obey God. There are many that are saved, however, that are not deciding or choosing to break the cycle simply because they won't obey God. When our children see us disobey God then chances are that they will too and then the cycle of sin continues in the next generation. What the next generation will do lies heavily on what we do and how we live.

So how about it? Will the cycle continue in the next generation after us or will we be the ones to break it? The key is OBEDIENCE. If we're going to break the cycle and make a difference for those coming up after us then we must obey God. And that doesn't mean obeying some of what God says...we must obey all of what He says.

Total obedience = obedience = God's blessing
Partial obedience = disobedience = God's punishment

It's not always east to obey God...but when He says do something...just do it. He will help you and empower you to and in turn break the cycle of sin and pour His blessings upon you.