Dr. John Macarthur was once asked by a seminary student (I paraphrase because I can't recall the exact quote): “As you mature in your Christian life, will you sin less?” Macarthur's response was: “Yes, I sin less, but I'm remorseful more.” How can that be? Why is it that as we mature in our Christians lives we become more remorseful? I think there are two reasons:
1) As we mature we learn more about who God is, and who we are. By that I mean we become more and more aware of how far we are from the righteousness and the purposes of God. The more deeply we understand God, and more deeply understand our sinfulness and our flesh, and who we really are, it becomes more hurtful and causes us remorse.
2) As we mature in our Christian walk we sense how faithless, how negligent we have been not to heed God's word, believe it, and put it into practice. This causes us greater remorse as we see how much we have been so artificial, phoney, thoughtless to the things revealed in God's word.

Today's My Utmost for His Highest reveals the reason for the mature Christian's remorse:

“We don't consciously and deliberately disobey God— we simply don't listen to Him. God has given His commands to us, but we pay no attention to them— not because of willful disobedience, but because we do not truly love and respect Him. “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Once we realize we have constantly been showing disrespect to God, we will be filled with shame and humiliation for ignoring Him.

We like to listen to personal testimonies, but we don't want God Himself to speak to us. Why are we so terrified for God to speak to us? It is because we know that when God speaks we must either do what He asks or tell Him we will not obey. But if it is simply one of God's servants speaking to us, we feel obedience is optional, not imperative. We respond by saying, “Well, that's only your own idea, even though I don't deny that what you said is probably God's truth.”

Am I constantly humiliating God by ignoring Him, while He lovingly continues to treat me as His child? Once I finally do hear Him, the humiliation I have heaped on Him returns to me. My response then becomes, “Lord, why was I so insensitive and obstinate?” This is always the result once we hear God. But our real delight in finally hearing Him is tempered with the shame we feel for having taken so long to do so.”

Pastors are being counseled these days to preach as if they are addressing 7th and 8th graders. Of course there are times when the elementary truths of God's word need to be explained in the most simplest of terms, but pastors who only preach on the 7th grade level will get churches filled with 7th grade level Christians (a problem seen in many of today's “evangelical churches”). As Christians get fed on the “meat” of God's word (Hebrews 5:11-14), they will experience the remorse Macarthur was talking about and explained by Oswald Chambers. The question is, why put ourselves in the position of remorse? Why aren't we finding “real delight in finally hearing Him?” That's question we each must answer. My prayer for you and me this day is this: Lord, we don't want to live in the remorse of wasted opportunity...the remorse of disobedience...the remorse of not experiencing Your blessing. We want to know You more and walk with You more completely. Help us Lord to fulfill Your purposes. Amen

The old “Farmer's Almanac” adage applies here: “If you quit hitting your head with a hammer, you'll feel less pain.” Think about it.

Walk with the King today and be a blessing.