“Sin is fun, until it isn’t,” recently wrote my facebook friend and preaching colleague Wilson Adams.
Take a minute to read this thought provoking post by Wilson that provides a fresh reminder of sin’s seriousness. And maybe offer a new perspective.
Those who deny that sin contains an element of fun are not to be taken seriously. Scripture acknowledges this truth when it mentions the “passing pleasures” of sin. That says 1) sin is fun, but 2) the fun doesn’t last very long. Like the hook embedded in the bait, the thrill of the moment is eclipsed by the “Uh-oh” consequence when you realize you’ve been had.
Sin thrills and then it kills.
Sin promises satisfaction, then robs us of satisfaction’s most powerful longing: a craving to God-connect. Choosing to sin is choosing to live a less-than life. The less-than life is never mentioned in sin’s advertisement. Yet the pull of sin is strong. No one gets up in the morning and says, “Today, I think I’ll sin and screw up my life!” That’s not the way it happens. It happens because we don’t plan not to.
There’s another option than the two we think: #1: Fight temptation, or #2 Give in. Option #3 Pre-decide.
Satan is coming hard after you. If you think your willpower will be the winning power, you’re naïve. Your willpower will wane and wear out -Satan knows it. He knows you’re not as strong as you think you are. There has to be another way to carry the day. There is.
You have to be ready. If you’re going to defeat sin, it won’t be because you got stronger, but because you got ready. Get ready. Pre-decide. It’s the only way.
Wilson’s post reminds me of a familiar quote which offers this insight. “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, it will keep you longer than you want to stay, and it will cost you more than you want to pay.”
For years many of us preachers have explained the Greek word for sin, hamartia, as “missing the mark.” Apparently, the word was used in archery and spear throwing. When they missed the bulls eye or the target, the word “hamartia” was used.
In application, I’ve heard and said that when we “miss the mark” of God’s Word, we sin. However, one writer pointed out that sin is “worse than simply missing a target or making a mistake.”
These Bible passages point out sin’s seriousness.
- Sin is lawlessness against God’s law (1 Jn. 3:4).
- Sin is rebellion against God (Rom. 13:2; 1Tim. 1:9).
- Sin is unrighteousness (1 Jn. 5:17).
- Sin enslaves us to unholy passions (Rom. 6:12-19).
- Sin separates us from a relationship with God (Isa. 59:1-2).
- Sin sent Jesus to die on the cross (Eph. 1:7).
- Sin results in spiritual death (Rom. 6:23).
Sin can bring a good man down. And while he can repent and return to the Lord, it can leave devastating consequences in its wake. Just ask King David.
I like Wilson’s suggestion. Pre-decide.
Know what you believe. And why you believe it. Choose to remain true to your values. Your morals. Your ethics. Your conscience. Your God.
–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman
ThePreachersWord 
The Greek word Hamartia is a door stopper and a door opener. As Mr. Weliever points out the Greek word Hamartia means missing the mark in a big way. It is a big mistake that keeps many from having a relationship with God. No one plans on sinning. Every year at Easter Christians watch TV or go to church and hear Mark 15:21 read and go right on missing the Mark.
How do people miss the Mark? They don’t understand Greek or Aramaic words for a starter. Secondly they miss the importance of Martha and the meaning of her name and why the Anointing Story takes place in Beth ANY and involves a guy Luke calls Simon. Thirdly they don’t understand that the Rooster is an Alektor and when Alektor crows, as roosters do, they protect the hens in the Barn yard.
So sinners keep on missing the Mark because they just can’t heed the word of God and make the big mistake of thinking Simon the Cyrene aka Simon the Black is just some country bumpkin forced to carry the Cross of Jesus. That’s the BIG MISTAKE. He is the Father of Alexander! He is also the Father of the Cross.
The Soldiers compel Simon to embrace this Cross. The Cross is lifted up in so many movies and Easter pageants as the worst “thing” that could ever happen to a person. Moreover the Cross would be something no one in their right mind would ever choose.
Yet artists of old paint a Red Haired gal, a Rufus, from Magdala as the chosen one in the Lord (Romans 16:13), clinging to the base of a branch, Jeremiah saw as an Almond Branch, an amygdala (Jeremiah 1:11).
When Martha (the Lady of the House) opens the door and forgives her Old Rooster (Alektor in Greek) for crowing, the work of Easter begins and her sister the Woman Jesus called the Magdalene comes into the Garden looking for her lord, her husbandman, thinking Martha’s Lord has taken her Lord’s body (John 20:15).
But Simon aka bar Cephas like Jonah of old is sitting under a tree that worms have stripped bare. He is angry. So Simon returns to working by the sea, keeping company with his old PALS.
And here by the Sea is where a miracle occurs. Simon bar Jonah hears the Rabboni crow…cry out and he catches on to the Mega Fish that swallowed Jonah! Then he puts on his morning coat, his wedding garment that he had taken off and comes to a barbecue already in progress…just waiting for him and his catch(his Bride) of the morning to arrive.
If you wanna be in that number when the Lord comes to redeem his Bride and all those adding to her number? You need to be ready.
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