Friday Faith Check-up: Sin Can Deceive Us All!

"One great power of sin is that it blinds men so that they do not recognize its true character."  - Andrew Murray

One of the major traits of sin is that like an obnoxious weed, it can gradually overrun our thoughts, actions, even our hearts. It keeps reproducing itself until the only thing emanating from it is ugly, hurtful, evil sin. What's worse is that it stands in the way between us and Jesus Christ, keeping us from  enjoying the full external blessings of his grace.

You've probably heard the old saying, "Beauty is only skin deep." In the case of sin, our outward spiritual condition is masking our sinful inner condition. We may put on a brave face, showing our "hardcore Christian" side to the world. But it's all a sham! If you could peel away the outer layer, you would find that on the inside we are rotting away with sin (Isaiah 53:6).

Many of us are contentedly living life in this condition. We falsely believe that because we attend church faithfully, read our Bibles, participate in Bible study groups, and even help little, old ladies cross the street, that we are genuine, 100% Christian, through and through. I hate to burst your bubble, but there's more to it than this!

In John 5, this is illustrated beautifully for us in the story of The Pool of Bethesda. The man in this story had been an invalid for thirty-eight years (John 5:5).  You might think that's a long time... and it is! But as I mentioned before, many of us have been walking around "sick" with sin for a long time, too.

When one lives with a chronic sickness or injury it is possible to grow accustomed to the ailment. So much so, that after a while, even though you know all is not well, you just get used to it and keep moving along. That can be the case with sin. We know it's there, but we think it's not really affecting anything. So, we keep on as if nothing was wrong.

Getting back to the gentleman at the pool, it's a good guess that he had been coming to that pool for a long time hoping for relief from his situation. Days grew into weeks, weeks into months, and months grew into years. Still, nothing had changed. Thus, it is with our sinful condition.

What made the difference for this poor, suffering man? Jesus entered the picture. Merely lying by the pool hoping for some type of assistance from the world never worked for this man. He couldn't depend on himself, and he couldn't depend on others to help him into the healing waters of the pool (John 5:7).

Like him, we are helpless against "sin" unless we let Jesus help us.  Christ, after seeing the man lying next to well, and probably noticing his poor state, asked him, "Do you want to get well?" I like the way this is stated in the KJV Bible: "Wilt thou be made whole?" (John 5:6)

Dear friends, Christ is asking you and I the same question. Do you want to remain broken in sin, or do want to be made whole in his mercy and grace? Jesus warns about the consequences of sin.

We cannot enjoy the external blessings of Christ's grace without heeding the spiritual condition of the inner person. And this is only possible with the salvation offered to us by Jesus Christ (John 5:14).

Scripture: 1 John 1:9; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-2; Romans 5:12; John 8:34

Prayer: Dear Jesus, I know I have been born into sin, but I don't want to die in it. Please wash me clean of sin with Your Holy grace, and have mercy on my sinful heart as I pray to You today. Amen

Have a blessed weekend!

Kaye