Am I Really Sick Because Of Sin?

Because of your anger, my whole body is sick; my health is broken because of my sins. [Psalm 38.3]

This is something you rarely hear people say today: "I am sick because of my sins."

Should it not alarm us that sickness and disease are dealt with today so matter-of-factly as simply physiological anomalies?

There is a HUGE disconnect today between what Psalm 38 says and what mankind believes about sickness and disease. And to think we have the audacity to even consider today's prevailing opinion about sickness and disease as potentially correct is appalling! "Why?" is found just a bit earlier in today's OYCB reading in Psalm 36:

Sin whispers to the wicked, deep within their hearts. They have no fear of God at all. In their blind  conceit, they cannot see how wicked they really are. Everything they say is crooked and deceitful. They refuse to act wisely or do good. They lie awake at night, hatching sinful plots. Their actions are never good. They make no attempt to turn from evil. [Psalm 36.1-4]

Unremarkably, pride is the problem. Pride has always been the problem. And, pride will always be earthly man's problem. "Blind conceit" is how the Psalmist defines it above. It started in the Garden of Eden when Satan asked Eve, "did God really say..."

The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” [Genesis 3.1]

Of course God really said that! But conceit is blind - and the rest is history... Or, is it? What have we learned from our history?

Has God really said that sickness and disease are the result of disobedience?

“If you refuse to obey all the words of instruction that are written in this book, and if you do not fear the glorious and awesome name of the LORD your God, then the LORD will overwhelm you and your children with indescribable plagues. These plagues will be intense and without relief, making you miserable and unbearably sick. He will afflict you with all the diseases of Egypt that you feared so much, and you will have no relief. The LORD will afflict you with every sickness and plague there is, even those not mentioned in this Book of Instruction, until you are destroyed. [Deuteronomy 28.58-61]

Yes, apparently, Gid did say that sickness and disease are the result of disobedience. We know this just like Eve knew God said she and Adam were not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

But wait! Satan's question of Eve was laced with misinformation! Eve recognized the misinformation immediately and responded accordingly. However, Satan's strategy worked in causing a moment's doubt in Eve which weakened her resolve to stay pure on the premise of ...wait for it ...blind conceit. All it took was just a moment of focus on self rather than on God for Eve to blindly consider her own satisfaction over what God said.

And, so it is with sickness and disease today. Satan's misinformation echoes through the voices of medical science and religious reason (blind conceit) that sickness and disease are not the result of disobedience (requiring spiritual mitigation) just like he told Eve, "you won't die..." What Satan is telling mankind today is just as wrong as what he told Eve in the Garden then.

For this reason, religious leaders today, just like the religious leaders of Jesus' day are disconnected from what the Bible teaches and are therefore confused about sickness and disease - and many actually fight against the healing of forgiveness found in Christ Jesus AND HIS FOLLOWERS! Very few, if any, will firmly and unapologetically stand on the Bible's teaching that every sickness and disease (as stated in Deuteronomy 28 above) is resultant to sin thus requiring spiritual action as opposed to medical action. Blind conceit is at the epicenter of this disconnect.

Frankly, there is no way to genuinely appreciate the fullness of Jesus' punishment and death on the Cross if we remain disconnected from what the Bible teaches on the subject! When we are blindly conceited about our condition, refusing to acknowledge the truth of what the Bible says about sickness and disease, we can only view prophetic passages like Isaiah 53.4-5 as abstract thus confusing our concrete understanding of Jesus and His miracles - just like the religious leaders were confused and therefore opposed Jesus!

The opposite of blind conceit is "eyes-to-see,-ears-to-hear and hearts-to-understand humility." God does not need us to "explain" the Bible but instead to humbly obey His teaching and commandments found therein. It is not our position to argue whether or not sickness and disease are spiritual phenomena - the Bible has already spoken to the issue - man in the Old Testament was simply to repent and believe in God's forgiveness found in sacrifices and offerings - and man in the New Testament is simply to repent and believe in Jesus.

We really don't need fresh or new revelation on this topic. What we need is to return to (repent) and believe what the Bible has taught all along. But be sure of this: it will get us into all kinds of trouble... just like it did Jesus.

Father, may I be found true to Your Word making every effort to avoid putting my personal satisfaction above what Your Word says - blind conceit.