Over the last few days Bear Cub has started saying "No, no, no..." just before doing things that he knows he shouldn't. This is both very cute and quite helpful.
This morning he was heading for the toilet with his toothbrush in hand saying "No, no, no, no..." He knows that he is not to throw things in the toilet - Mommy and Daddy have taught him so. His conscience was clearly telling him that throwing his toothbrush in the toilet was NOT OK, though he was also about to ignore it.
God has given us all a conscience, and we do well to heed it. But more than that, we need to inform it. A well fed conscience will guide us and make us increasingly aware of our sin. The more we come to know God through availing ourselves of the means of grace, the more attuned we will be to our own sinfulness. The more we know God, the more we are able to please Him - and the more we will be grieved by our own sin. Study Gods Word - truly meditate on it (in the mind-filling sense, not the mind-emptying sense) and hide it in your heart and your conscience will be fed. A weak and starved conscience does little to keep us on the path of righteousness.
Does that mean we will not sin? Of course not. And we will have times when we ignore our conscience, just as Bear Cub did this morning. But as long as we find ourselves saying with the Apostle Paul:
Romans 7:24
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this dying body?
We can know that we are indeed growing in grace and the knowledge of God. And we can also be assured:
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness
