Forgiveness of sin is costly: it costs the life of a living being in our place, which gives all its blood, its life, for us.

This is not some strange god which we invent that needs to be appeased and to which a sacrifice has to be made, the life even of a child, a son or daughter, in order to bring rain or good harvest or victory or whatever reason our evil hearts imagine in this invented duty to a false god which does not speak or hear.

The evidence of young children sacrificed to the gods of the Aztecs have been found with the evidence of the unspeakable terror that the child went through. We are utterly depraved without God to teach us, lead us, to show us the way of righteousness and to cleave to Him throughout our lives, for sin is at the door, knocking, seeking whom it may devour, seeking who it can lord it over, if we choose to be ruled over as Cain did in rejection of God and against God's warning.

Our wrong doing separates us from God for ever. It costs our life with God to one in estrangement from Him.

If thy foot cause thee to stumble, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into the life lame, than having the two feet to be cast to the gehenna, to the fire - the unquenchable - where their worm is not dying and the fire is not being quenched. (Mark 9: 45-46)

We need to know and remember that our sin is serious in how it severs us from God; that we cannot treat it lightly nor consider it a light matter. We need to face the unholiness in our mind, body and soul, in what we do which is evil and in what we fail to do which would be right to do, and we need to know that the only way to restore our close walk with God is through a saviour, to bring us back to our God and back into relationship with Him where there is peace and fulness of life.

Our sin is costly. Another's life given in our place is the cost. May we never forget this or brush it aside or hold it as a slight matter. We need to face the full guilt and grief of the pain we have caused to another and to God and not harden our hearts against him and treat it as nought, of no significance or importance, as Cain did.

The Holy Spirit is sent to convict of sin and of righteousness and of judgement. How easy it is to ignore Him and once we reject His conviction of us once, we make a callous and with more rejection our hearts become impregnable, hardened against our God and His voice.

Do not harden your hearts as in the day of Meribah. Complaining against God, demanding of God, not trusting God, insulting God, scorning God, reviling God, not wanting to know or be with God, all these and the acts we do separate us from God, but I am convinced that there is nothing in heaven nor earth nor under the earth that is able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus - He continually pours His love towards us, but we are free to turn from it and from Him