Innocent Sin?

Almost sounds like an oxymoron doesn't it? Is there really such a thing? My morning devotional was in Genesis 20. Abraham's wife, Sarah, must have been breathtakingly beautiful because everywhere they went, the heads of men turned and they desperately wanted her. It is beyond me that Abraham would use his own wife as a pawn to get what he wanted. But, twice in the book of Genesis when Abraham traveled and men noticed Sarah, he saw an opportunity and seized it.....to the point of allowing men to take her home. He would pass her off as his sister. Makes me think of the modern day movie that came out several years ago, "Indecent proposal", where a man allows his wife to spend the night with a man for a million dollars. One such man that Abraham offered his wife to under the disguise of being his sister was a king by the name of Abimelech. BUT God (I always love those two words) intervened in this situation. Abimelech had Sarah brought to his palace and before he could even approach her, God appeared to him in a dream and revealed the truth to him. Abimelech pleaded with the Lord (Genesis 20:4,5 says, "...Lord will you kill an innocent people?....In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this") He never denied his sin, he just declared that he was innocent when he sinned. The Lord honored his plea and told Abimelech, "It was I who kept you from sinning" (Genesis 20:6).
Now, unlike Abimelech, we are not as likely today to have God appear to us in a dream, however, this is the importance of asking God to reveal ANY sin in our lives unknown to us (Give us clean hands, give us pure hearts)....The God who kept Abimelech from sinning will do the same for us. He may choose to close a door that you thought should be open (or vice versa). He may give you an unease or restlessness about a decision or situation. He may send a person to warn you. Regardless, I believe God wants to keep His children from sinning and that He warns us. The problem is we don't always heed the warning and sometimes we just blatantly choose sin!
Read Genesis Chapter 20 in it's entirety. Had Abimelech ignored the warning, his sin would not only affect himself but many others. That's the deception of sin!