"How Low You Can Go"

"Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps." (Psalms 88:6)
I heard a small part of a message yesterday, I think it was from Pastor Matt; he was on the subject of man's number being six, and how it was six because it could never reach seven: "No matter how many sixes you put together, they will never reach seven," that was pretty much his statement. Not that that has anything to do with this verse; but I did think it was rather interesting. To be perfectly honest, I really don't know what to think of this; not as a believer, it just does not make any sense to me why it's even here. I do remember that the thing I hated worse growing up, was when my mother made me go to bed without having dinner; especially when dinner was happening in the living room on the TV trays! For some reason, that seemed like the worst thing she could have done. I hated hearing my brothers and sister laughing, as they ate watching The Ed Sullivan Show; while I was alone in my room with the lights out. Oh yea, I forgot about that part; she made me leave the light off, which for some reason magnified the laughter. Man, she could be so cruel sometimes. Again, not that that has anything to do with this verse; but I do remember it as being one of my lowest moments. There really is only one good way to look at this, whether or not you think it good: there really is only how low you can go, and if you are not there yet, then there is still hope for you after all! Once you are dead, then you chances of redemption have run out. I know that sounds terrible and coldhearted, but there is a certain formula to how it works: Be born twice, and you only die once; be born only once, and you die twice! So if you are not dead yet, you still have a chance to be born twice! The second death is the one that you really want to try and avoid, it's the one that is going to hurt; nothing like the first one, it's more like slipping away; at least on this side of reality, it is. All of that said, there is nothing more low than when we fall out of fellowship with God. It's really frightening to feel all alone; especially after you experience the joy and peace that come from being in fellowship with the Lord. But such is the price of sin! Sin robs us of our joy, and it takes away our peace; making us feel guilty and ashamed. Death really never feels so real, as when we have sin that needs to be forgiven. What is wrong with you? You do not have to go into the pit! You do not have to remain in darkness! Come out of the 'deeps' and celebrate eternal life! Because once you confess your sins, that is where you sins will remain, the bottom of the ocean...
"This is the message we have heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but we go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts." (1 John 1:5-10) NLT