Marked by Sin

For the most part we should be impressed by Uzziah, who reigned over Judah starting when he was just 16 years old. He was king for 52 years - a lot of time to serve the Lord and a lot of time to make mistakes.

In 2 Chronicles 26:5 it says "He st himself to seek God ... and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper."

And prosper he did. Uzziah made war and won, Uzziah built up Jerusalem and succeeded. He even hired inventors to create new technology in warfare to defend the city, and it was successful.

But later in life something happened. In verse 16 we read "But when he was strong he grew proud to his destruction." Uzziah entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. This was the job of the priests, not the king. I think perhaps Uzziah started thinking he could do no wrong and that anything he accomplished was done from his own power.

But what happened next is very instructive. The priests came in and told the king he shouldn't do this. At that point nothing had happened to Uzziah. But then the king got angry - and it was then that leprosy broke out on his forehead. He was rushed out of the temple and had to live apart, marked by his sin, for the rest of his life.

There are a bunch of lessons here, but the one I want to focus on may not be the most obvious. We are all like Uzziah in the temple with leprosy broken out on our heads. Leprosy was a symbol for sin. Here we are in the pride of our own accomplishments (or what we think are ours) showing off before God. And there it is, sin - right there. We too are set apart from God and excluded from fellowship.

But thanks be to God that there is another mark we can have. Instead of the mark of leprosy, we have the mark of the blood of Jesus that not only covers but washes away the mark of sin and separation. We can come to God freely, knowing that we didn't deserve it and didn't do it and can't do it at all!

So the next time you feel the mark of sin forcing you away from the Lord, or even when pride rears its ugly head and you start taking credit for what God has done - remember Uzziah. And picture that mark of leprosy (what you deserve) being replaced with the mark of the blood of Christ.

Be humble, and be free.

Pastor Tom