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Unchecked Sin Can Kill You!

5/05/2007   

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7)

We all know what the Bible teaches: “For the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23) Yet, we often don’t equate chronic everyday sin as something that will eventually lead to spiritual death. The truth is sin can often be a silent killer, one that doesn’t show the damage it can do until it’s in its late stages.

I recently realized in a very personal way just what sin can do to us, especially over a long period of time. I’ve been a diabetic for twelve years. Over the last several years, I’ve gained a good bit of weight and guess what? My blood glucose level is running far too high. Obesity doesn’t help the diabetic, but the damage from unmanaged diabetes may not manifest itself for years. In my case, while I haven’t been on my diet, as evidence by the fact that I’ve ballooned in weight, I also haven’t experienced any of the symptoms that would suggest that my diabetes is out of control. That is until recently. All of the sudden, I began to notice that something different was going on.

I finally became concerned enough to go to my doctor to see what I needed to do to get things back into check. Much like sin is with God, diabetics can’t lie to their doctors about whether their blood sugar is out of control because there’s a test they can run that will expose you in a heartbeat. So I decided to be honest with my doctor, and he decided to be honest with me. In short, he pointed out that while I’ve been abusing my body for years, it’s only now beginning to show up. “If you don’t get a handle on this,” he told me, “you’re going to damage your body in ways that are beyond repair.”

Sin has the same effect. In fact, the damage it can do is played out in the life of David. In the 38th Psalm, he begged God. “O Lord,” he said, “do not rebuke me in your wrath, nor chasten me in your hot displeasure! For your arrows pierce me deeply, and your hand presses me down. There is no soundness in my flesh because of your anger, nor any health in my bones because of my sin.” (Psalm 38:1-3)

David finally realized that sin in his life was killing him. Just like my doctor, he finally realized that he couldn’t hide what he was doing from God. He also realized that only God could ultimately save him from the life he was living.

My diabetes was not going to get better until I allowed my doctor to become a part of my solution. But I had to make the first move. I had to go to him and be honest with what was going on with my life. Only then could he help me.

And so it is with sin. It, too, will lead to death if it goes unchecked. David realized that he could not hide the sin in his life from God. But he had to make the first move in order to allow God to become part of the solution. He decided to visit the one to whom we often refer as the “Great Physician.”

There are no degrees of sin. No one sin is worse than another. If gone unchecked, any unconfessed sin can ultimately lead to spiritual death. David decided that he was no longer willing to take that chance. He finally understood that but for the mercy of God, none of us has a chance.

posted by Mike Ruffin on 5/05/2007