Pondering the though of the return of sin, I remembered a saying I’ve heard many times before – “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”
Recently, I heard a sermon in which the Preacher stated that all sin is an investment - and order for woe and sorrow. In my recent post, ‘He Has Injured His Own Soul‘, I began to see the reason for the instruction in Matthew 5:44-45, that when another does evil to you, the return on investment is surely high and there is no need for unforgiveness or retribution. Consider Elbert Hubbard words, “We are punished by our sins, not for them.”
In the days that followed, I began to notice this return on investment; first in my own life and then in the lives of others and I wondered –
- How many men are now enduring the consequences of lustful, adulterous thoughts, looks, or what they considered innocent flirting.
- How many women are now enduring the consequences of indiscretion, in their clothing, their behavior, their harmless ‘one night stands’.
- How many men and women are walking through trials now because they did not know that their ‘fantasies’ or ‘thoughts of foolishness’ were sin.
Remembering Galatians 6:7-8, I considered that just because we or others do not see a thing does not mean it is not there. God has said it – that settles it, whether we like it or not.
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
So, just as you would go to a restaurant and order a fine meal, you can order sorrow and woe to your own life and to those who would love you when you do a sinful act. And remember the bar is high, very high…”The thought of foolishness is sin: and the scorner is an abomination to men.”– Proverbs 24:9
Consider this, the next time you do a thing that God calls a transgression. Just as when you order your meal at your favorite restaurant, it may take some time to prepare your order and have it served to you at your table – the return of sin is imminent in your life. There is no way around Galatians 6:7-8.
But, there is mercy. Oh, sweet mercy. And there is I John 1:9. Commit this verse to memory, for you and I and all others will forever need it. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
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