To 'ebhah

To those who think that saying you know Jesus gives you free license to sin willfully every day.

Pleasing God,

Well, here’s the trick,

Just do nothing,

That makes God sick,

 

When you try,

But sometimes fail,

Plead Christ’s blood,

To save from Hell,

 

And though he’ll save,

From sin and strife,

Don’t let sin,

Destroy your life,

 

For if you think,

That you can sin,

Continually,

But then depend,

 

On Jesus to,

Forgive it all,

You are destined,

One day to fall,

 

For willful sin,

Done every day,

Our Savior’s blood,

Won’t wash away,

 

You cannot keep,

Sinning away,

Without remorse,

All night and day,

 

Knowing Jesus,

Should change your heart,

Convict you to,

Sin depart,

 

There is no way,

You can follow,

Jesus Christ,

while sin you swallow,

 

A change of heart,

And change of mind,

Leads to a soul,

That Christ refined,

 

When Jesus walked,

On Earth before,

He’d always say,

‘go sin no more’,

 

To those who Christ,

of sins forgave,

he’d tell them not,

to misbehave,

 

But never did,

He ever claim,

That they could sin,

Without the blame,

 

The price he paid,

Was great but free,

His words to us,

To you and me,

 

Was turn away,

From lives of shame,

A godly life,

You can reclaim

Author's Note

I just realized that the third and fourth lines can be interpreted two different ways. I intended it to read: 'Just do nothing that makes God sick' instead of 'Just do nothing: that makes God sick'. Both fit, but what we do that sickens God is what I was looking at here. To 'ebhah means 'abomination' or something that makes God sick. Things that fall into To 'ebhah's category are things that God absolutely detests and abhors. The worst of the worst. In recent days, people have tried to tone down To 'ebhah to mean something that displeases God. This is NOT what it means. It is something that God absolutely hates with a passion. When something falls within this category, it is extremely bad in God's eyes. There can be no excuses for it, or claiming that Jesus' blood makes it alright anyway and so I can keep doing this thing which is To 'ebhah in God's eyes. Regular, willful, defiant sins that are To 'ebhah are not allowed by God. "Go and sin no more" Jesus said, never, "Go and keep sinning and don't worry about it because though it makes me sick, I'll just forgive you anyway." Wrong!

Reviews

[Blue]

I can definitely sense your passion and conviction in this poem, Eddie. Very well done! But I'm wondering ... Perhaps you mean " Plead Christ’s blood,/To be saved from Hell," instead of " Plead Christ’s blood,/To save from Hell,"?

[Eddie Davis]

Hi Blue, long time no see! Well, you are right, but I am paranoid now of using too many syllables in poems, so I I went with 'To save from Hell' as it was only 4 syllables. The problem with that is, of course, everything is condensed.

[Blue]

Long time no see indeed, Eddie. I'm just enjoying my rest these days. Aww, I understand the syllable restriction.

[Elina]

This is wonderful, Eddie! As Dhaye mentioned, the poem itself is marvelous, but the additional information in the note was equally so. This reminded me of the "lukewarm" church that God said he would spit back out of His mouth (or in some translations; vomit)...it shows just how much he despises such things. He would rather we were cold to Him and honest about it than claiming to be on fire for Him, while living a life no different than those who hate Him.

I did notice in the ninth stanza, where you write "while sin you wallow," unless you intended it this way (due to a certain number of syllables that you were using) there should be an "in" between "while" and "sin." ?

[Eddie Davis]

Thanks, Elina, the poem was inspired by the local news this week of those happily going about lives of sin. Yes, the 9th stanza was intentional, as I was trying to keep the syllable count down. It really needs 'in'. I had it at first 'in sin you wallow', which would sound better, but it would mess up the flow. I could substitute 'while sin you swallow', which has the visual image of a poison pill instead of a pig in the mud. I might try that!

[Dhaye]

This is an amazing poem, Eddie. The poem itself is a great reminder for everyone. Plus, your note there is so helpful to understand more the title since you have used that different term (I'm also asking what is " 'ebhah ".
Thank you for sharing. You are a fine novelist and even you only post few poems, those are great like this one.

[Eddie Davis]

Thank you, Dhaye. the actual word is "To'ebhah", the 'to' is part of the Jewish word.

[Dhaye]

Ah, okay. Nice trivia.
You're welcome.