“Innocent” Mistakes

It’s generally understood that a lack of knowledge of the law does not excuse breaking it. But I think we only understand this in the abstract and when it applies to other people. We don’t really think this principle has any effect on us.

But think of the children who are raised by parents who, by word or deed, make it clear that there are no harmful effects of drinking copious amounts of soda, of a sedentary lifestyle or even of smoking. Despite their “innocence”, these children often grow up to suffer the ravages of diabetes, heart disease and cancer. No matter how unfair it may seem, a lack of knowledge of the laws that govern our health does not preclude the consequences of disobeying those laws.

When I was thirteen I was introduced by my grandmother and parents to the writing of a psychic, Edgar Cayce, who would purport to help people with various ailments by entering into a trance and then pronouncing the steps necessary to produce a cure. He also made predictions about the future. I found this to be heady, exciting stuff and it had the imprimatur of those I looked up to. I certainly had no idea how seriously God commands us not to have anything to do with such things (Lev. 19:31, 20:6, etc.).

One of the psychic “readings” that Cayce performed directed a man with poor eyesight to crack his neck on a regular basis and his eyesight would be restored. Having needed glasses since I was nine, I jumped at the idea of healing my eyes and began cracking my neck. Over the next thirty-three years I would never be able to stop what was, at the very least, an annoying habit. I could not not crack my neck – no matter the time or place – although I tried many times. Even the pinched nerves and chronic aches that resulted could not induce me to stop. I was slavishly committed to this habit.

Then one day, almost two years ago, God said to me, “Every time you crack your neck you are paying homage to that which is not God.” I immediately saw the truth of what God had said (i.e. I agreed that I had been sinning against Him every time I cracked my neck) and I asked Him to forgive me and free me from committing this sin. I immediately felt a weight lift from neck and I have not felt a need to crack my neck since.

Bottom line: it was only by acknowledging my sin – something that I had started in what we call innocence and which I had never, ever considered a sin – repenting of it and asking God for His forgiveness and healing that I was miraculously healed from an oppression of over three decades.

Does this sound too incredible to you? Or does the idea that cracking my neck was, for me, a sin sound preposterous? If so, I ask you to reread what I’ve shared here. Consider the sequence of events and the reasoning. But more importantly, ask God. Read the Bible. Ask God to make things clear. He is not only able, He’s very willing.