Sin is sneaky. It comes in the back door like a burglar and catches us off guard. Sin's goal is not to simply get its host to pull away from the Lord. Sin's goal is our demise.
The Bible is filled with references to sin. None of them treat its presence lightly. Its fires are stoked by our common enemy, Satan, but we are the ones who light the match; we are the ones who continually set our lives on fire; we are the ones who predict our ruin.
The Bible says sin is woven into our DNA at birth. We cannot undo this fact. To sin is to be human and to be human is to sin. John says "He who says he is without sin is a liar and the truth is not in him." Bad people are not the only ones with sin problems. We all carry this burden and we all are desperate for rescue from it.
We see the effects of sin crouching at Cain's door as he murders his brother Abel. We smell its stench time and again as Israel lights incense burners and pray to false gods. We witness its devastating effects as David goes into Bathsheba and the nation of Israel falls to a pestilence of infighting, bitterness and plague. We feel its tyranny as the Pharisees plot to kill the only One who can save them from its clutches. Make no mistake, the sin that lives within our bones is deadly and if left unchecked it will claim our lives.
Invisible realities are hard to reckon with but that does not mean we can easily ignore them. Try reasoning with your lungs that oxygen is just a figment of their imagination or with your brain that realities such as peace and hope are not essential. Just because we cannot see sin does not mean it is not a formidable enemy. All the more, its sneaky invisibility makes it perfect for its deadly purpose. A life defined by sin is destined for destruction. The best intentions cannot relieve it from its deadly track.
Praise God we have a Savior who upon recognizing our sin disease entered in and made it His own. The only hope we have of rescue from the sin that so easily entangles us rests in Him who knew no sin and chose to become sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Cor. 5:21) God, in His graciousness, saw our sin sick state and refused to leave us there. Out of His great love for us He sent His Son to die a criminal's death--the ultimate goal of sin--so that we would not have to walk that road. Truly, that one perfect sacrifice set us free from the law of sin and death. It's potential is no longer our fate if we chose to embrace the wonderful grace of God. If we choose...
Now more than ever we must choose to embrace the great grace of God. If we belong to Him we must live as if grace, not fear or judgment, defines us. Right now, not tomorrow or a year from now, the world needs to see the selflessness of Christ alive in us who claim His grace. They expect to see selfishness and hate. They anticipate our snarky attitudes and mean stares. They want to see these things because these things are what define the world. These are the things that shape their hearts. But these are not the things that shape our hearts. Today is the day for us by God's grace to say "No!" to sin and its devastating effects in our lives. Today is the day by God's Spirit to say "Yes!" to His work in us and through us. Today is the day He is inviting us to demonstrate more than sin and death to a world that only understands sin and death. Today we get to show the world life and hope and peace and love.
Will you choose life or will you choose death? So much more than your own life hangs in the balance.