I'm sitting on the couch this evening, listening/watching an old Genesis concert that I recorded on VH1Classic and downloading programs on my computer. My computer isn't the same computer that I was familiar with. It had a crises!
I know went the crises began - January 15 around 4:00 PM. I had received an email from someone I though I knew (I didn't) to go to a website and watch this hilarious video. I went to it and as I clicked on the video to start, a window popped up and then disappeared. I thought little of it until, after a few minutes, I started to get pop-ups every few minutes. I realized that I had gotten some type of ad-ware or spy-ware so I ran a program to get rid of it. It didn't. then I ran a virus scan and I realized I had some type of Trojan virus. So I had the anti-virus program take care of it. It didn't. For several days I kept working on the problem. Then my anti-virus program wouldn't work. My computer started to act up, sluggish, doing weird stuff. And pop-ups - they kept coming and some of them weren't what I would want popping up on a preacher's computer - they weren't pornographic but still rather risqué. I was worried about whether my computer would work for Sunday (1/27) (power point). It did, thankfully.
Anyway, that Sunday evening I purchased another type of anti-virus/spyware-adware/registry repair program. Ran it and I was thrilled because it was working. I was amazed at how many Trojan and worm viruses I had. Then my computer froze on me so I had to shut it off and restart it but wouldn't restart. I kept getting a blue screen that told me I had a fatal error and a bunch of other stuff. So, that Monday, I took it to the computer hospital. Five days and $187 later, I had it in my lap. I turned it on and there it was, a different computer than the one I once had. Thank the Lord they were able to back up my hard drive, reinstall Windows and get rid of all the viruses.
All this got me thinking about sin. You know, it really doesn't take much sin to get us messed up. We may think we can handle stuff - things we know aren't good for us but we rationalize our behaviors or choices. But the "little sins" have a way of moving us to other types of "little sins" that eventually join forces and we have lost our selves to the control of sin.
I spent the day today at a conference on sexual ethics and boundaries. Again, this was driven home for me, how easy it is to get pulled away from what we know is right and proper to giving into behavior that is hurtful, to ourselves, to our family, to the person/people involved, and the church. "Little sins" are really good at causing us to come up with rationalizations for our behaviors. With the letter "A" being a walk of commitment to Christ and holiness and "Z" being walking in the total opposite direction, it's easy to rationalize our choices as "well, I'm still closer to "A" than to "Z". The interesting thing is, if we're not moving towards "A" then we're moving toward "Z".
I've heard people say, "I'm a sinner saved by grace" but I'm not sure they really believe they're really "sinners." Think about it - most of us haven't committed a bank robbery or raped a person or molested a child or beat our spouses or killed a person - we've just told lies, had lustful thoughts, "borrowed" stuff from work, been hateful to someone, been unforgiving, had racist feelings, gossiped...shall I go on? Remember what Jesus said about some of this? "You know the next commandment pretty well, too: 'Don't go to bed with another's spouse.' But don't think you've preserved your virtue simply by staying out of bed. Your heart can be corrupted by lust even quicker than your body. Those leering looks you think nobody notices—they also corrupt." (Matthew 5:27-28, MSG) I think it's a pretty safe bet that his statement here can and should be applied to my incomplete list of "little sins." I haven't found any lists in God's Word that says, "these are the big sins and over here, these are the little sins. Don't do the biggies but the littles are OK." I know there isn't those type of lists because I've looked. The only lists I've found have them all listed together as...SINS.
All these thoughts because I went someplace that I wasn't sure about to see something I wasn't sure about from someone who wasn't who I thought he was that ended up crashing my computer. Which I know, from the experience of my own life and the lives of some people I have been acquainted with, is what happens to us when we try to dance on the edge of sin - we will eventually crash - but even before we do, we're infected and things start to slowly get messed up inside of us.
I am a sinner saved by grace. I couldn't do it myself - I just messed things up all the more. But Christ, well, he has an amazing way of fixing us up, working on our infections, pop-ups, and crashes.
I think it appropriate to close these thoughts by encouraging you to turn to the thoughts from the Apostle Paul on the subject. He spends the first 8 chapters talking about much the same thing. Those chapters have a way of turning me back towards "A" and away from "Z." Of course, the whole book is worth a good read.
I know went the crises began - January 15 around 4:00 PM. I had received an email from someone I though I knew (I didn't) to go to a website and watch this hilarious video. I went to it and as I clicked on the video to start, a window popped up and then disappeared. I thought little of it until, after a few minutes, I started to get pop-ups every few minutes. I realized that I had gotten some type of ad-ware or spy-ware so I ran a program to get rid of it. It didn't. then I ran a virus scan and I realized I had some type of Trojan virus. So I had the anti-virus program take care of it. It didn't. For several days I kept working on the problem. Then my anti-virus program wouldn't work. My computer started to act up, sluggish, doing weird stuff. And pop-ups - they kept coming and some of them weren't what I would want popping up on a preacher's computer - they weren't pornographic but still rather risqué. I was worried about whether my computer would work for Sunday (1/27) (power point). It did, thankfully.
Anyway, that Sunday evening I purchased another type of anti-virus/spyware-adware/registry repair program. Ran it and I was thrilled because it was working. I was amazed at how many Trojan and worm viruses I had. Then my computer froze on me so I had to shut it off and restart it but wouldn't restart. I kept getting a blue screen that told me I had a fatal error and a bunch of other stuff. So, that Monday, I took it to the computer hospital. Five days and $187 later, I had it in my lap. I turned it on and there it was, a different computer than the one I once had. Thank the Lord they were able to back up my hard drive, reinstall Windows and get rid of all the viruses.
All this got me thinking about sin. You know, it really doesn't take much sin to get us messed up. We may think we can handle stuff - things we know aren't good for us but we rationalize our behaviors or choices. But the "little sins" have a way of moving us to other types of "little sins" that eventually join forces and we have lost our selves to the control of sin.
I spent the day today at a conference on sexual ethics and boundaries. Again, this was driven home for me, how easy it is to get pulled away from what we know is right and proper to giving into behavior that is hurtful, to ourselves, to our family, to the person/people involved, and the church. "Little sins" are really good at causing us to come up with rationalizations for our behaviors. With the letter "A" being a walk of commitment to Christ and holiness and "Z" being walking in the total opposite direction, it's easy to rationalize our choices as "well, I'm still closer to "A" than to "Z". The interesting thing is, if we're not moving towards "A" then we're moving toward "Z".
I've heard people say, "I'm a sinner saved by grace" but I'm not sure they really believe they're really "sinners." Think about it - most of us haven't committed a bank robbery or raped a person or molested a child or beat our spouses or killed a person - we've just told lies, had lustful thoughts, "borrowed" stuff from work, been hateful to someone, been unforgiving, had racist feelings, gossiped...shall I go on? Remember what Jesus said about some of this? "You know the next commandment pretty well, too: 'Don't go to bed with another's spouse.' But don't think you've preserved your virtue simply by staying out of bed. Your heart can be corrupted by lust even quicker than your body. Those leering looks you think nobody notices—they also corrupt." (Matthew 5:27-28, MSG) I think it's a pretty safe bet that his statement here can and should be applied to my incomplete list of "little sins." I haven't found any lists in God's Word that says, "these are the big sins and over here, these are the little sins. Don't do the biggies but the littles are OK." I know there isn't those type of lists because I've looked. The only lists I've found have them all listed together as...SINS.
All these thoughts because I went someplace that I wasn't sure about to see something I wasn't sure about from someone who wasn't who I thought he was that ended up crashing my computer. Which I know, from the experience of my own life and the lives of some people I have been acquainted with, is what happens to us when we try to dance on the edge of sin - we will eventually crash - but even before we do, we're infected and things start to slowly get messed up inside of us.
I am a sinner saved by grace. I couldn't do it myself - I just messed things up all the more. But Christ, well, he has an amazing way of fixing us up, working on our infections, pop-ups, and crashes.
I think it appropriate to close these thoughts by encouraging you to turn to the thoughts from the Apostle Paul on the subject. He spends the first 8 chapters talking about much the same thing. Those chapters have a way of turning me back towards "A" and away from "Z." Of course, the whole book is worth a good read.
It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.
I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?
The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.
I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?
The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.
Roman 7:21-25 (MSG)
1 comment:
Good stuff, Jim. Just don't send me any videos! Stephen
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