Every once in awhile it is generally good practice to think upon the topic of sin. Since life progresses at an alarming rate, our minds naturally have trouble holding on to the convictions we develop, and even more importantly the holy affections and holy hatreds that attend those convictions. Furthermore, in a society where Sin is overlooked, misunderstood and often even celebrated to the point of worship (see the adolescent fawning of the pimpin’ gangsta lifestyle), the good Christian will often feel like he is a stick of flavored gum being chewed and chewed until the taste is all gone. That is how hard it is to maintain a biblical consciousness of Sin. Anyways, it’s good to stay sharp and most of us, myself included don’t.
Sin is serious for a variety of reasons. The one that most often comes to mind, at least for me is that the punishment warrants a serious outlook, hell is hot and it’s no joke. Another reason is the sheer magnitude of our offense when our sins are brought before a perfectly Holy God. We commit treason on a cosmic level everytime we say yes to Sin. Okay, so there are countless reasons for why sin is seriously bad. However one that I would like to discuss here is the effect of Sin on the human heart and its significance concerning the cross of our Savior.
The effect of sin that I’m talking about is how it makes us numb upon repitition and habitual failure to repent. Habitual sin numbs our hearts and our consciences so that the most heinous of sins become acceptable and the most beautiful of glories become wrapped in haze. What happens then is that we become susceptible to greater falls, and greater falls, until we are swimming in blood and filth and simply whistling our worries away.
Now, what really drives this home is what all this means concerning Jesus. You see, the sin we commit today was paid for at the cross in the past, meaning that those forbidden pleasures we feel in embracing temptation equate to the wrenching pain our Lord felt at Calvary. But you see, here’s the thing, in our numbed state, we no longer care. When we are living in sin, we are essentially throwing a blank stare at our Lord as he suffers and dies on a cross, with a heart completely devoid of feeling.
Who do you love the most in this world? Your wife? Your children? Your father? Your mother? Let’s pause for a moment and consider them carefully, how dearly you hold them in your hearts. How deep your affection for them. You love them, yes, with all your heart. Now is it not true that you love Jesus Christ more? “Much more!” you say. Good, you have read Matthew 6. Then why do we feel so little concerning the cross of our Lord when we would surely scream and wail if it were our loved ones nailed to that cross instead? Your mother, your father, your sons and daughters…Truly, the image is so horrible that many of us would not dare to even imagine it.
And that is why sin is so serious, so sick, so horrendous. It allows us to gaze into the eyes of our crucified Lord and feel… nothing.
To us who have let sin into our lives, what have we become? the hollow men, the empty eyed, stony hearted addicts. how dare we smile, how dare we laugh, when there before us, our greatest loved One bleeds to death.
My friends, Sin is serious and it should make you feel sick. Those who do not feel sick, should inquire carefully into their own hearts to see if they have lost grip of reality. Time passes so quickly, and sin is an adversary that knows no rest. So remind yourself daily about the severity of sin’s effect and renew your hatred against this restless enemy. For the opposite of numbness is a heart that can soar.
