Echoes in Eternity

Does Satan ever come to you and whisper, "Is God really THAT holy?" or "Is God really THAT intolerant of sin?" or "Did He REALLY demand perfection?" or "God's not looking, a little bite won't hurt anyone." He certainly does to me. Recently, I've noticed a creeping apathy or outright negligence in my life toward certain, as Jerry Bridges might call them in a book I desperately need to read, "respectable sins" (not to mention plenty of sins which aren't "respectable"). I believe that's because I tend to see God as Satan wants me to see Him, instead of as Jesus commands me to view Him (Matt. 5:48).

I need to see God as the utterly Holy, completely Good, everlastingly Pure and Perfect King. I need to know God as first wrathful toward me as a sinner BEFORE I know Him as loving toward me as one under the cleansing of the Lamb. I need to remind myself of the God who in His divine wrath wiped out whole nations and civilizations because of sin. I need my eyelids stuck open with toothpicks until I fathom just how infinitely holy the Father is; until I can honestly cry, like Isaiah, "Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips [and an even worse heart]... and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

Lord, may I see your holiness. May sin make me queasy to my stomach. May even the temptation of a lustful thought or a prideful attitude make me feel like spiritually puking before You! And when I do fail to honor your holiness, may I immediately repent and cling evermore tightly to the Cross, knowing confidently that though I am a great sinner, Christ is an even greater Savior!