2002-08-19 - Boolie

Ezekiel 7:16 Even when their survivors escape, they will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, each over his own iniquity.

I have been reading a book of sermons by Samuel Rutherford, who was a minister in the 1600s. The copy I am reading is a recent printing as it is just over 100 years old. Usually in modern reprints archaic language is corrected, but in this copy the publishers have been careful to retain the particulars of the language found in the Scottish highlands. It makes the book next to impossible to read. One word I came across last week was boolie. It was in reference to our sinfulness and Rutherford was suggesting that we should boolie over the sin which we still fall into and still indwells us. To boolie means to weep in a childish manner.

There is an aspect to what he says that I agree with. It seems true that where there is true repentance for sin there should also be much sorrow for it. Consider the woman who had such sorrow for her sins that she cried at the feet of Christ and then wiped her tears from His feet with her own hair, Luke 7:37-39. Certainly that is an example of sorrow for sin.

I don't hear much about sorrow for sin. I hear a lot about forgiveness. I hear a lot about the wonders of the mercy of Christ and the blessings that are ours through His propitiation for sin. These certainly are good things. However, I fear there is a tendency to view sin in such a manner that fails to grasp the great evil that sin is toward a loving a holy God. We can look upon our sin, smile and say, "Well, Christ has covered that one too." But we should not be so blasé concerning sin. Sin is sinful. Sin is utterly sinful and those of us who have experienced forgiveness should be the first to not take sin lightly. We know the cost that sin exacted upon the Son of God, Jesus Christ. It cost Him His life. The only one who has ever lived who did not deserve death, died, because of our sin.

Another word I have learned in reading this book is fanked. Sin fanks us. To fank is to become entangled. In many ways sin can sneak up on us and fank us. We may not even realize we are becoming entangled in the tentacles of sin until it has us well in its grasp. Then it becomes harder and harder to separate ourselves from it.

If sin has gotten its claws into your life, or if you find yourself falling into sins or one particular sin that continues to hold you back and master you, there is hope in Christ for you. The promise is that if we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive us from our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, 1 John 1:9. I'm not a "name it and claim it" type in general, but I make an exception for this verse. God has promised to forgive us if we confess our sins to Him. There is a power that sin has that can only be overcome through Christ, 1 Corinthians 15:56, 57. However, in Christ there is hope and victory over sin.

There is nothing wrong with going boolie over sin. It might do us well to have hearts that are sensitive enough to the wickedness of sin that when we sin it moves us to weeping. It certainly seems that tears are better than the careless attitude that so many have regarding their sin. We probably all have sins that we embrace and tolerate. They are, as it were, velvet sins. The call of the Christian is to flee to Christ only. It is to leave our sins at the cross and strive with Christ to gain victory over them. There really is no such thing as a velvet sin for sin, all sin, is debilitating to the Christian. Let us therefore examine our hearts today, and this week, and see where the Lord would have us address our struggle with indwelling sin.

Soli Deo Gloria,
T-

tim@cfdevotionals.org
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