God Gave Them Over
Perhaps the worst consequence of sin is itself. Without repentance, a little sin leads to more and more sin. Romans 1:21-32:
24 Therefore God gave them over…
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts…
28 Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind…
Did your conscience used to feel pricked over certain things, but you went ahead with doing the wrong thing or neglecting the right thing, and over time the voice of conscience has quieted to a whisper or entirely disappeared? The Bible describes this process as the searing of our conscience as with a branding iron (I Tim 4:2). You used to feel sensitivity in that area, but now it is so burned and scarred over that somebody could poke you right in that spot and you wouldn’t feel a thing.
It may be different things for each of us: pornography/lust, fear of man, laziness in responsibilities, lack of love for a particular person/group of people, lying, love of money, looking away from suffering and injustice around us because it would cause personal inconvenience, etc. Whatever element in such a list you are inclined to give the most fleeting consideration to is quite likely the one in which your conscience is most seared. The area of grossest sin in your life may very likely be the area that you feel the least bit “convicted” about. Brothers and sisters in Christ, now is the time to repent! Don’t look to your feelings, look to the unchanging word of God.
Below is one of my favorite quotes from Luther. I think this quote can be applied on at least two levels. On one level it speaks to how the church must boldly engage the wicked culture around us. But the same wisdom applies to how each of us must boldly engage the wicked nature within us.
If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the Word of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Him. Where the battle rages there the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battle front besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point. (Luther’s Works. Weimar Edition. Briefwechsel [Correspondence], vol. 3, pp. 81f.)
Don’t neglect the fight, in dependence on God’s grace and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit within you, against that one “little point” of sin where your conscience has been seared. Tell God that you refuse to be given over to anything that is displeasing to Him.