the Insidious nature of sin

we don't talk about sin much anymore. I don't. the preachers I hear don't.

For me personally, I salve my conscience by telling myself that I've heard enough 'sin-will-send-you-straight-to-hell-fire-and-brimstone' sermons growing up to last 5 lifetimes... and, in fact, I have.

But here's the deal. We gotta deal with it, because it is our condition. It is the original 800 pound elephant sitting in the middle of our spiritual living room.... and it is what puts distance between me and my God.

....and the devil (who, incidentally, is STILL roaming around like a lion looking for a good meal) is laughing all the way to the 'soul bank' because we are not paying attention! I know we are not paying attention to it, because we are not talking about it. I'm not. Preachers are not. Nobody is!

There are many dangers to ignoring sin... the most terrifying one is this:

Sin is insidious...

Sorry for the fancy 6-dollar word, but it an absolutely fitting description. Here is Webster's take on the word:

intended to entrap or beguile;

stealthily treacherous or deceitful;

operating or proceeding in an

inconspicuous or seemingly harmless

way but actually with grave effect

sound like something we can ignore? well, we seem to be ignoring it... and while all three of Webster's definitions are scary, the most frightening (to me) is the last one... sounds sorta like the description of an incurable disease, doesn't it?

...after all, hasn't everyone got a family member (maybe it's you) who has ignored an ache or pain or other symptom for a while, then gone to the doctor to find out they have a bad illness... one which may have been prevented by paying better attention to it sooner?

I will never address the subject in the same manner it was presented to me as a kid, but that poor experience does not excuse me from daily reminding myself and my family that sin is insidious... it creeps in slowly until at last I am so trapped I don't even recognize it for what it is! then I rationalize and reason and excuse and justify and battle until I finally smell the stench of my own boiling flesh! (well that went south in a hurry! sorry about that... just referring to the frog in boiling water analogy... I'll try to give a PG-13 warning next time...)

....but that's exactly how it works! A dear friend said it this way:

sin will take you farther than you want to go,

cost you far more than you are willing to pay,

and keep you longer than you intended to stay

Anyhow, I challenge us to objectively inspect our lives - today! And get away from whatever sin is in or around us...

is it the Internet? (wow! a subject for another time) is it the music pumping from our IPods? is it all the crap that passes for prime time TV programming today? is it an unhealthy relationship? is it idolatry? is it 'things'? is it less than desirable friends?

are you able to be completely honest about any of these things? I implore you to get completely alone with God and discover what it is in our life which separates you from Him.

then get rid of it, no matter what 'it' is.

God Bless each of us as we take that hard look at ourselves...