1 Chronicles 21:17. And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O Lord my God, be on me, and on my father’s house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.

David’s sin of numbering the people affected more than just himself.  It affected a whole nation.  When we sin, it can affect our family, friends, church, and community.  No man lives or dies to himself.  Our decisions, good or bad, affect others.  David said he would rather that the sin was on him and his father’s house.  Some sins in the Old Testament would affect children that had not even been born.  Those sin would reach three or four generations later.  In some cases, it could affect ten generations later.  The point is – sin can have some very long lasting affects.  Though the blood of Christ can cover sin, it cannot always take away the affects of sowing and reaping.  There are, many times, consequences of sin that cannot be undone.  The drunk driver many times is not hurt in an accident where he may kill a mother or her children.

Because our sin can affect generations, we need to walk circumspectly.  Sometimes, as Christians, we take sin, and the fact that we can quickly and readily receive forgiveness, lightly.  Just because it does not cost us anything to be forgiven does not mean it does not cost Christ!  It also does not mean that there are not the ramifications of those sins.  The Bible gives us example after example in the Old Testament of sin and the consequences of sin so that we don’t do the same.  Paul said, “God forbid” that we take the fact we can receive forgiveness lightly and abuse the grace of God.  If nothing else, let the fear of the consequences drive you away from sin. Even the “thought” of foolish and sin should not be in our minds.

David messed up and got into some bad sin.  It affected his family and many generations later.  However, David always had forgiveness with the Lord.  He was always able to restore his fellowship with God.  Thank God we can come back to the Lord, even if our family gets messed up in the process, like David’s did.  We need to learn from David and stay away from sin.  Your sin affects more people than you think.  It is important that we live in the fear of God and in light of the consequences of a bad decision.

Photo by scottjlowe