Wednesday, February 24, 2010

The Cost of Sin Is Too High


We don't often think of sin in terms of what it costs us monetarily, but I have a story to illustrate. There was a man that was married and had been for years to the same woman faithfully. There came a time when the woman of the house was going through a change of life and the man was not. The wife had lost her desire for the husband in a physical, intimate way, but the husband had not lost His desires. After some time and struggle, the righteous man was drawn into temptation when He saw an ad from a large city near where the rural couple lived. He decided to call and found a very inviting young woman on the other end of the phone. After some fighting within himself, He decided to make arrangements to meet the young lady. She told Him that the fee for being together was $550, as that would pay for a nurse for a sick infant for a period of time. Well, the man came to His senses right away and knew that He could not afford such an arrangement, the cost had become just too high. After talking with the woman, He found that the woman's husband had left her with a premature baby that had a dangerous medical condition with her heart. Being moved with compassion for the child, He prayed for her healing  and left, a much wiser man. The grace of God prevailed in this righteous man's life and taught him a very valuable lesson.
It was a shame that it took a monetary sum to get the man's attention, but it sure worked. The man went back home to his wife and became a much more understanding husband. He realized the selfishness of his heart had almost cost him much more than $550. The bible tells us that the wages of sin is death, but we somehow don't understand this in our everyday lives. Many people work for years to build a business or kingdom or to have a certain lifestyle, only to realize too late, that it was all for nothing. The pay for righteousness is beyond measure, it is eternal life. For the Christian, we have a greater hope, if we continue in the way of righteousness the Lord will not forget us in the temporary trials we will face in life, consider 1 Corinthians 10:13:
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
We are not the ones that are able to judge what we can bear, that is up to our  Father. We must only follow in the way of righteousness and when we are faced with physical denials or emotional denials in this life, we must cry out to our Lord and allow these circumstances to mold and shape us into men and women of God. I will leave you with these verses to consider from Matthew, chapter 19:
27 Then Peter answered and said to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?” 
28 So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife[a] or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

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