Sin Dominates the Mind

“For I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me.” Psalm 51:3

When I was a small boy, a lady named Mrs. Gunter used to keep me every Saturday while my mother worked. Mrs. Gunter’s son, Scotty, had a hat that I particularly admired and wanted. One day, I packed that hat with some extra clothes I had brought and stole it. I took it home with me, put it under my bed, and thought I had gotten away with it. I kept it for a week – the most miserable week of my life. I thought about that hat at school. I thought about it while I was playing. I lived in constant fear that my Mother would find it and my thievery would be exposed. The next Saturday when I stayed with Mrs. Gunter she asked me, “Have you by chance seen Scotty’s hat?” I couldn’t wait to have her accompany me back to my house so that I could get rid of that hat that I’d wanted so badly!

Hidden sin will dominate the mind of a Christian. Unconfessed sin not only affects us emotionally, but it affects us mentally as well. King David described the sin he had kept hidden as being “always before me.” For a solid year, the ghost of guilt had haunted David. The old adage, “Out of sight out of mind” does not apply to sin in the life of a believer. God will not allow it to be out of mind. He loves us too much for that.

After King David committed adultery with Bathsheba, I have no doubt that his sin dominated his mind. He went to bed thinking about his sin. He got up thinking about his sin. The King went about his business, but his sin was always in the back of his mind. I’m sure he ate meals thinking about his wrongdoing. He even sat on his throne thinking about his sin. Everywhere that David went his sin was sure to go, too.

That is exactly the way sin will affect a believer. You will try to put it in the back of your mind, but it keeps coming back. You are constantly reminded of it. You may be able to put it out of your sight, but you will not be able to permanently put it out of your mind, because God won’t let you.

Dear Lord, only you and I know the sin that has been dominating my mind recently. And God, I no longer want to be a slave to this sin or overwhelmed by this stronghold. I pray that you would forgive me for falling short and that you would help me to walk in your freedom starting right now. In Jesus' name, amen.