Friday, May 15, 1998
Friday, May 15, 1998
Come to a sober and right mind, and sin no more; for some people have no
knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. (1 Corinthians 15:34
NRSV)
Martin Luther once said that we have three enemies: "Sin, Death, and the power of Satan."
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the great Russian novelist, lay on a bed of straw in a prison camp in
Siberia. Contemplating all that he had seen in the prison camp, he came to see that "the line
separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between
political parties either, but right through every human heart." When Solzhenitsyn saw that evil was
not just a communist problem or capitalist problem but also his problem, he realized his need of a
Savior.
You and I need a Savior. As Bill Copeland said once, "We used to hiss the villian; now we go out
and buy his book."
Sin is that which is anti-God and anti-humanity. Sin is that which brings death and destruction to
body, soul and spirit. Sin is the enemy of every good and worthwhile thing in this universe. Sin is
such a serious matter that it caused the death of God's own beloved Son. Sin is serious business.
None of our sins is hidden--not nearly as well as we might suppose. I read recently a humorous
list of persons who were convinced that their sins were hidden:
"The thief was sure that the church was a safe hideout. Just inside he spied a rope hanging. Up he
climbed, only to hear the church bell ringing his whereabouts.
A Mexico City man snatched a woman's purse and dashed into a doorway to hide. It turned out to
be the door of a police station, where he was questioned and later identified by his victim.
Shoplifting in a department store in Rochester, New York, a man picked up an alarm clock and
headed for the nearest exit. The clock, concealed under his coat, went off
before he could get out of the store.
A burly lineman for a professional football team often stayed out late, despite the club's curfew.
He would pile things under his blankets, making it appear he was in bed. At one hotel, however,
he couldn't find enough things to stuff the bed with. So he stuck a floor lamp under
the covers and departed. When a suspicious coach peeked in at 1 a.m. and snapped on the light
switch, the bed lit up.
We kid ourselves when we think our sins are hidden. Even more dangerous is the attitude that
many of us have that our sins are not all that important. "Surely," we rationalize, "God has more
important things to worry about than my petty vices." Not so, says the cross. We matter to God
and because we matter, anything that is destructive to us or destructive to those we love or
destructive to our relationship with God matters a great deal.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, please forgive me and help me to live righteously for you. Amen.
Ronald Newhouse, Texas, USA