We are all sinners, from the youngest to the oldest; nobody can argue about that. As a human society, we each have the tendency to play down our sins, thinking ours are not as bad as those committed by others. This could be because society assigns different levels of punishment to different crimes. For instance, thieves get jailed in addition to giving back what they stole, and the jail term is determined by what crime and how serious it is considered. A murderer may be jailed for life, and occasionally could get capital punishment.
But what really is sin? Sin
is moral evil; it is the transgression of or rebellion against God’s laws. This
is where our focus should be when we sin, and not on how simple or serious the
sin is. So, whatever you do wrong, regardless of how, if it’s rebellion against
God’s law, it is sin. The Bible says the wages of sin is death; sin is not categorized;
it is sin as long as it is against God’s laws.
As Christians, we are God’s
image-bearers, and He commands us to be holy because He is holy. So, when we
sin, we are non-verbally telling the world, “This is what God is like,” which
of course is untrue; we taint His image with our sins. Our concern about sin
should therefore be how it impacts God’s holiness and others. When we sin, we are
actually representing the devil, but telling the world we are representing God.
In addition to tainting God’s image, we cause other people to suffer needlessly. For instance, Achan, an Israelite, coveted, stole and hid a beautiful robe, two-hundred silver coins, and a bar of gold weighing over a pound in the ground beneath his tent—items meant to be set apart for God (see Joshua 7:10-11, 20-21). With the exception of God, no one else knew about Achan’s theft, but when God exposed Achan, Joshua confronted Achan: “Why have you brought trouble on us? The Lord will now bring trouble on you” (verse 25). Achan’s family may or may not have known about this issue. But guess what happened? Sadly, all of Achan’s family and property perished with him when he was found out: they were all stoned to death and burned (see Joshua 7:24-25). In addition to the destruction of Achan and his family, Israel was surprisingly and shamefully defeated by the troops of Ai, a city smaller than Jericho; thirty-six innocent Israeli fighters died in the conflict, dashing the Israelites’ hope.
Achan’s sin brought a loss of
lives (36 plus his family and poor animals), as well as disappointment to
Joshua, the elders, and the people of Israel. They had thought victory was
going to be a piece of cake since they had captured Jericho without any opposition.
Achan’s sin also brought shame and disgrace on Israel and their God; exactly
what Moses had feared years earlier when God threatened to destroy them in the
wilderness: he had feared that neighboring nations would say God was unable to
bring His people into the Promised Land, so He killed them.
Brothers and sisters, let’s
be careful how we walk and take sin seriously; the outcome can be so involved
and overwhelming, beyond all that we could ever think or imagine. Let’s purpose
in our hearts where to draw the lines and stick to them; may we never be caught
off guard! We are promised victory in Jesus’ name. But when we fail, let’s run
to God for cleansing, because the Bible says, “If we confess our sins to him,
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
wickedness” (1 John 1:9). Amen!
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