I Like Sin

I Like Sin

Sept 15, 2008

Psalm 36:2 "For in his own eyes [the wicked] flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin."

I do not like lima beans. I would pick them out of any foods that my mother used to make. She could hide them in a dish, but I would find them. My palate knows. For me to eat a whole plate full of lima beans would be out of the question. I would sooner gag on a spoon than eat lima beans. Some people like lima beans; I am not one of them. You will not find a secret stash of lima beans in my desk drawer and you won't find me hiding in a closet scarfing them down. Since I do not care for lima beans, you will certainly never see me eat a whole bushel full of them.

Many people say they hate sin. But I know better. If they hated sin as much as I disliked lima beans, they would never sin. I cannot say that I hate sin. If I did, I would not "eat" a whole bushel full at times. You might say that you hate sin, but then you wouldn't "eat" a whole bushel full either. What you hate is the guilty feeling after you sin. What you hate is dealing with the consequences of sin when it's over. What you hate is the effects of sin on your relationships, but you like the sin part. Sin makes you feel good, for a time. If there were no pleasure in sin, none of us would ever "eat" a whole bushel full. But sin is enticing, it gives us a rush.

The key to finding the right perspective on sin is to figure out what you like more than sin. For the Christian, it should be that we love the Lord and our relationship with Him more than we like the short-term effects of sin. Every time we sin, we drive ourselves away from a right relationship with Him. God truly hates sin, which is why He is able to withstand "eating" a whole bushel full of it. He does not want sin in His presence. When we decide to "eat a plate of sin," we drive the Lord and His presence from us.

Most of the time, when we sin, we are doing so with the full knowledge of what we are doing. We are all old enough and mature enough to know what is going on. We are aware that it is sin, but we do it anyway. It's time to call it what it is and admit that we all like the short-term effects of sin. But it is also time to put your right relationship with the Lord above any amount of sin you might "eat" on a daily basis and make the decision to live your life better. Identify the "lima beans" in your life, the areas where you say you hate the sin but you keep doing it anyway. Now call it sin and determine to love the Lord and your relationship with Him more than the sin. Decided right now that you are going to be in His presence and make honest efforts to allow Him to help you rid your diet of those lima beans you claim to hate.

1. As you read this devotional, what two sins in your life immediately come to mind?
2. Are you willing to put your relationship with the Lord above those sins?

Additional Scriptures for Study: Matthew 6:24, Romans 12:9, James 4:4, 3 John 1:11