Go Ahead And Dance!

“And David danced before the Lord with all his might, while wearing only a linen ephod (2 Samuel 6:14).”

Much of the Psalms written by King David are devoted to singing praises to the Lord for all of the good things He did. David could get himself into trouble, and he had a problem with sexual sin, anger, and a host of other problems we all face from time to time. However, David never failed to repent and praise God. Acknowledging our sin can be difficult, even for Christians, maybe even especially for Christians. I think some of the reason for that is the belief that once saved, always saved. This seems to give those who believe that carte blanche’ to do whatever they want without repercussions. Another reason, I think, is that Christians can be devious in their sinning. They don’t want anyone from church to see them coming out of a bar but they don’t consider staying out of the bar.

It can be easy for us to ignore the little sins and transgressions in our lives and tell ourselves “everyone is doing it, so what’s the harm?” After a while, the sins get bigger and the covering up of those sins gets easier as well. But eventually, God will allow the whole mess to come crashing down on us and we have to face what we have done. Sometimes, we get so out of whack, it’s easier to face God with sin, than to look our pastor or other church member in the eye and confess what we’ve done. We are prideful, sinful people. No wonder God repented for making man! (Genesis 6:6)

In the Old Testament, sins were covered yearly by taking an offering to the priests. They used the blood to wash the sins, and burned the carcass as an offering to God for the forgiveness of sins. It was a very intense procedure that had to be done just right, and if the priest did something wrong and entered the Holy of holies, he might come out dead. They even tied a rope to his leg so if he died, they could drag his body out. God was deadly serious about sin back then, and He is still serious about sin. But He also took pity on us, seeing how we just can’t stop sinning and needed more than a yearly sacrifice. So He became flesh and sacrificed Himself in the body of Jesus Christ on the Cross for all of our sins.

For me, knowing what Christ went through for me, knowing how it breaks His heart when we live a life of sin and misery, breaks my heart to think about it. I know the life I led was horrendous for me, and I know the person I was then broke Christ’s heart. The person who came to Christ asking forgiveness died that day, she was put to death in Christ Jesus and became a brand new creation. (2 Corinthians 5:17) That alone is worth dancing about, leaping and shouting.

Confess your sins and move forward. Leave the dead to rot where it is. You have a new life in Jesus Christ and there is no reason to risk hell for anything. Tell the truth, shame the devil. Dance like David did and kick the devil in the teeth. You are a new creation and if that’s not worth dancing about, I don’t know what is.