Sin surrounds us. Nearly every message we hear during the course of a week promotes tolerance of sin. I’m not talking about subliminal or coded messages that trick us into sinning. I’m talking about life the way society sees it. Every day we are taught how “normal” people behave, and we call it entertainment.

To say that you aren’t influenced by it is to say you are perfect. It takes a struggle every day to keep from diving headlong into activities that society openly encourages. Sex: premarital, extramarital, whenever you want and whoever you want. Wreck a marriage? Just make sure to adopt some orphans. Money: get it at any cost. Cheat, steal, oppress; just give some to charity when you hit the big time. Gossip: the juicier the better. What’s Britney doing? Paris did what? Everyone loves a good scandal. And on and on and on it goes. We are immersed in sin, the kind that sticks to your mind, heart and soul. It’s sticky because part of us wants it. We want to be able to separate our soul from our body, to be able to live the “What happens in Vegas. Stays in Vegas” lifestyle and expect no major consequences for our soul.

If we continue to live a life full of physical pleasure, still claiming to be Christian, how does that make our Lord and Savior feel? To me, it would be like saying, “I appreciate the whole crucifixion thing Jesus, but I’m busy having fun here.” Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you can use Jesus’ sacrifice as a Get Out of Jail Free card. Trying to embrace the ways of the world, in hopes that you can pull out a last minute conversion - completely used up and worn out, does NOT work. Willfully choosing to disobey in hopes of abusing the saving power of Christ’s love to your advantage will NOT fool the Almighty God.

We are sinful by nature, but the goal is to be white hot for God. Can we ever truly attain the level of spiritual maturity where we can say we have arrived? Being sinful in nature, can we stay white hot our whole lives? We need to continue to aim for White Hot. The effort does count. We need to strive to become more like Jesus.

American Olympian and world-class runner Steve Prefontaine said, “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.” He was referring to physical gifts. Imagine how much more true that is when you consider the gift of Life and the sacrifice of the Father and Son.

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” 1 John 2: 15-17 (NIV)

This entry was posted on Friday, September 21st, 2007 at 8:50 am and is filed under Week 5: Consumed by a Burning Desire. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.