We make apologies to God as if we are doing him a favor for repenting from our sin. “Look at what I am doing for you God!” We might even do it with a tinge of resentment for God lording over us. It’s not our sin we hate. The thing we hate is God hating our sin.
This is the absurdity of our sin. We love that which we should hate. We hate that which we should love.
Realize that our obedience is not for God’s benefit. It is for our benefit. We think that our praying, worshipping, offering, and serving are of great consequence to God, but he doesn’t need those things from us as much as we need them for ourselves.
Sin promises us the world, but only gives us grief. Telling a lie may seem like the answer, but lying never gives a person a peace of mind. That lie may easily come back to haunt us. That’s what makes sin dumb. Sin may seem like a solution, but never without multiplying other problems in our lives. Sin is appealing, desiring, and pleasurable, but sin will ruin us.
Sin is the greatest con the world has ever known. It’s propagated by the “Father of All Lies” – Satan himself. We’ve been suckered. The crazy thing is that we continue to fall for it. That is the stuff of fools.
We turn to sin for the answers for what is lacking, empty, and unfulfilling in our lives. We embrace its promises but are left only with disappointment. Eventually we come to the point of despair. We often grieve over the consequences of our sin, but rarely do we grieve the cause.
Jesus came to save us from our sin. Jesus’ salvation is not just for the eternal realm after death, it is also for us now. He desires to put his Spirit into your life so that you would know him, love him, serve him, and experience the blessed life he has prepared for you. The Spirit gives us the wisdom of God to make wise choices about the course of our lives. This is all about trust. Do we trust that God’s way is better? Or do we believe that sin is the best option?
Consider the words of Psalm 1.
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. Psalm 1:1–3 (ESV)
Open the eyes of our hearts Lord. Give us wisdom to see the folly of our sin. Give us an obedient hearts. May we turn our backs to sin so that we may experience your abundant life. Amen.
Scott Messler says
That’s a very powerful message – all we need to do is look around us to see how sin devastates lives.