Minor rules matter

"King Uzziah remained a leper until the day he died. Because he was a leper, he lived in a separate residence and remained disqualified to enter the LORD’s Temple. His son Jotham served in the royal palace, judging the people of the land." 2 Chronicles 26:21 ISV

Almost immediately after Daniel Mesfun was declared the unofficial winner of the 41st annual Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon on Sunday with a time of 2:16:32, race officials began looking into whether Mesfun might have broken a "minor race rule" that could cause him to be disqualified. This rule, put in place by the USATF, states that Competition bib numbers must be pinned on the front of the outermost layer of clothing that you will be wearing in the race. And according to director Jack Staph, Meslun might have been wearing a shirt over his bib for most of the competition. So what’s the big deal you might ask? Well this seemingly small violation caused the second place runner (who was in the lead for most of the race) to believe that Meslun, who came up from behind, was only running the half marathon (rather than the full) and so felt no need to push himself to keep up... a mistake that cost him the win.

King Uzziah was also a man who broke what some might consider a “minor rule.” The Bible tells us that Uzziah, who was declared king of Judah when he was just 16-years-old, feared the Lord and so was granted great success in battle and in building his empire for many years until he became very powerful. It was then that his arrogance and pride led him to disrespect God and burn incense on the altar of incense. No big deal right? Wrong. Only the priests who had been consecrated were to burn incense on the altar. And for Uzziah's small violation, he was struck with leprosy and forced to live “in a separate residence,” forever “disqualified to enter the Lord’s temple.”

So if you still think it's only the "major" sins we need to avoid, think again my friend. The reality is that all sins separate us from Christ and there are no absolutely no degrees of separation - we are either reconciled to God or a stranger to Him. There is no in-between.  

Heavenly Father, thank You for the reminder that all sins, both big and small, are a grievance against you and come with consequences. May we vow today to follow You completely as you intended that we might never experience the separation from You that sin causes. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!!!

Lay down my pride - Jeremy Camp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjnF4sC0eqA