This past 2 and half months have certainly been interesting. We have gone from our typical days to days that are greatly different. We have gone from being comfortable in our public places to becoming careful to obey the rules and to respect other individual responses to the virus.
Now as I thought about the different responses to the virus, it made me think of the many responses to sin that people have.
During this virus we have seen, especially in the beginning, an enormous response. Within the course of a week and a half we saw self-isolation introduced, school closures and church closures. Our grocery stores turned into big games of “simon-says” and very quickly small businesses were forced to close under the new guidelines. It was perhaps one of the biggest reactions and responses we have seen in the recent history of our country to anything. It is amazing how a threat to life and comfort, mixed with a bit of fear and uncertainty sends people into a great panic.
Currently, many people have made up their minds on what they think about the virus and how they are living out their lives at this time, but no one can say initially that they were not being careful. Everyone took their initial precautions.
Sin has always been in the world and has always plagued people. From the garden of Eden to now people have had to find ways to combat the relentless problem of sin in their lives. We see through scripture the daily battle it is for people to remain faithful to living a life set-apart for God. Whether it was Abraham, the people of Israel wandering through the desert or the years of the Kings, God’s people have always needed to respond to their sin.
Sin continues to plague us as individuals today. We sin against God, against our friends, our families and we sin in secret places away from others. But what is our response to sin and its consequences that are more deadly then any virus.
Romans 6:12-13 says, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.”
Every day as we deal with sin, we are called to actively fight against it. We must not allow it to enter our lives and play us like an instrument. Like a player controls and makes noise through a trumpet, sin can also control and make a loud noise through us. As a result, each day we are to present ourselves to God as instruments of righteousness, allowing God through the Holy Spirit to sound through us a righteousness that would be rung aloud for his glory, leading us into lives that honor him.
Each day we have a choice to combat the thing that destroys our joy, our relationships with others, and ultimately what would seek to separate us from God. Sin is a much bigger deal then any sickness, it is fundamentally evil, but do we take the same level of action against sin that we would any disease? That is a question that is important for all of us to answer.
Thankfully, we are not on our own when it comes to this fight. Thankfully, we can have Christ and his righteousness in the battle against sin. We do not need to rely entirely on ourselves in the battle. It is important that we take action by reading the word, prayer and removing anything that would tempt us to sin, but this doesn’t mean we will succeed in removing sin on our own. We can fight hard, but we still need Christ’s righteousness applied to our lives when we come to him in faith. We need the one who has overcome sin, death and lived a perfect life to be the remedy for our sin and the sacrifice that pleased God as an offering for all sin.
Sin is horrible and separates us from God. What are you doing today to fight against it? Are you trusting in Jesus to save you from sin and its consequences? Are you removing yourselves from opportunities to sin? Are you seeking wisdom in God’s word to lead you in the way you should go? Are you praying that God would keep you from sin? These are all things that we must consider at this time.
Over time we have seen the response to covid-19 change in people, as the situation grows on longer and longer, individuals have become more comfortable and have let their guard down at times. In the same way this can happen with sin in one’s life. As we move ahead in our Christian journeys, we may become less guarded because of familiarity or because were caught at a stagnate point in our faith. Everyday we must remain vigilant of our sin, seeking to respond to it promptly while understanding that its consequences are far more dangerous then anything else in our lives.
We have seen a huge response to battling the corona virus, but more importantly, what does our response to sin look like. Are we fighting it with the same gusto as our world seems to be fighting the virus? Take time to consider your response to sin and temptation this week.