Sin is Sin is Sin

Please read this quote from Susanna Wesley. Be sure to read Colossians 2:6-8 at the very end.

“WHATEVER WEAKENS YOUR REASON, IMPAIRS THE TENDERNESS OF YOUR CONSCIENCE, OBSCURES YOUR SENSE OF GOD, TAKES OFF YOUR RELISH FOR SPIRITUAL THINGS, WHATEVER INCREASES THE AUTHORITY OF THE BODY OVER THE MIND, THAT THING IS SIN TO YOU, HOWEVER INNOCENT IT MAY SEEM IN ITSELF.”

-SUSANNA WESLEY

My pastor recently read this quote above, near the end of a sermon and it hit a chord with me. Please read it again… Webster’s 1828 Dictionary describes Sin as “The voluntary departure of a moral agent from a known rule of rectitude or duty, prescribed by God; any voluntary transgression of the divine law, or violation of a divine command; a wicked act; iniquity.” Susanna Wesley was the wife of John Wesley. Her words put the definition of sin into a very eloquent sentence that when first read, doesn’t really offend your senses. However, when you read it a second time, it hits you right between the eyes and the heart.

Living in a society the that we are living in today, the line between what is sin and what is not has been blurred almost to the point that it is not recognizable as a line between right and wrong. Going back to Mrs. Wesley’s statement, our reasoning is now skewed. We can barely discern good from bad or right from wrong because we have drifted away from God’s word. Our conscience has been numbed by the barrage of mis-information, outright lies, and a twisted version of the truth. Again, it’s because we don’t measure anything worldly against God’s word. Entertainment, electronic devices, pornography, shopping, alcohol and drugs, money, have all taken centerstage in many peoples’ lives. I am just as guilty at times.

Whatever you have in your life that dominates your waking moments to the point that you never think of God till Sunday morning, then that is a sin. Are you obsessed with video games? Set a timer. Are you obsessed with TV? Again, set a timer. Do you spend hours primping and pampering yourself? For what end goal? I could ask a hundred questions and each of us could answer them in a different way. The best question to ask ourselves is what do we spend the majority of our time doing? Is it wholesome? Does it benefit the family, community, and or church? Is what I am doing pleasing to God?

God does not command that we have no pleasure in our life. His most basic command is that we glorify Him. Is what you do pleasing to God? If you think there is something that is blurring your vision of God, put it away from you for a day or two. That should help you see the line better. I pray that it will be so. God loves us and wants us to be with Him. Are we preparing ourselves to do just that?

Colossians 2:6-8 (ESV) 6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. 8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.