Dr. Lawrence Butler, The Bridge Church, Pembroke

This article is a continuation of the study we began last week. There are so many effects of sin on a person’s life that the descriptions of them are overwhelming. Last week’s article shared some of the effects and I would like to continue that discussion today. 

Sin is a perversion. Perversion means something has been altered from its original state. It results in a corruption or distortion from the original desire or design and becomes abnormal or unacceptable. In effect, it becomes unusable for the intended purpose. Sin perverts and pollutes humans, thus they no longer fit God’s plan.

The inspired writers of the scriptures went to great lengths to teach us that allowing sin to attach itself to our lives brings us to a place of servitude. Listen to the words of Jesus found in John 8:34, “Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” One of Job’s friends spoke of the distresses of the servant of sin (Job 20:2022), reflecting that the payoff for sin was a bitter, hard life with an unsatisfactory ending. Paul in Romans 6:23 plainly states, “For the wages of sin is death.” The truth is that many of our generation, just like multitudes of other people from the past, actually appear to prefer the life of sin with its destructive wages rather than be the servant of God.

The real problem is innumerable humans have failed to do as Moses did when he realized the truth of life itself. Human life is short, but eternity is long and we must prepare for our appointment with God. “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward” (Hebrews 11:24-26). If we could only realize the reward for sin, often wonderful for a short period, is ultimately death and suffering for eternity, maybe it would cause us to seek God’s will for our lives. We should have “respect unto the recompence of the reward” as did Moses, and seek to live in eternity with a loving, caring God.