Ecclesiastes tells us, "There is nothing new under the sun."
Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries
By Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
"Just A Little Sin"
September 5, 2017
Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt."
~ Genesis 19:24-26 (ESV)
Ecclesiastes tells us, "There is nothing new under the sun." Well, you'd better believe it.
How do I know? Well, immediately after last month's eclipse one of the most common searches made on Google dealt with blindness which comes from looking at an eclipse. In spite of all the warnings; in spite of all the preaching, it seems that there were a great many folks who simply had to steal a look. Only afterwards did they wonder: "Have I caused permanent damage to my sight?"
Lot's wife, from the Old Testament, would have understood.
You remember how, when the Lord warned Lot and his crew to get out of Sodom and Gomorrah, there was only one thing He asked them to do. God told the refugees, "Don't look back. I want you looking toward the future which I am going to give you."
It was good advice. Unfortunately, Lot's wife disregarded God's instructions. She turned to take a look at the fire and brimstone raining down on her old home. She got a glimpse and she paid for that look with her life.
As near as I can tell, when it comes to following the Lord's orders, humanity has two problems:
1. We believe, "a little bit won't hurt us." Watch someone taste a spicy food dish. Note how they take the smallest of drops and taste it. They believe they can survive anything if the amount is small enough. Now that may be true when it comes to hot sauces; but it is most definitely NOT the case when it comes to disobeying God. In other words, "a little sin will damn you as fast as a big one."
2. We also believe God may be serious about His rules, but He's not going to get all kinds of upset with us if we just make a small mistake. After all, we're pretty good folks and the bit of disobedience we're talking about is inconsequential.
Well, my friends, I hope you all know the Lord's perfection considers every kind of sin to be loathsome and unacceptable and therefore He promises eternal punishment upon anyone who breaks any of those commandments. Now that's the way things should have been. On our own we would have remained spiritually blind and been destined to wander in sin's darkness.
But we are not alone, are we?
To save us from such a fate, the Lord sent His Son into this world to reclaim us, restore us and bring us back into the family of faith. Because of Holy Spirit-given faith, our spiritual vision is restored and we can see that we have been saved by grace, through faith in the Christ Whose resurrection conquers all of our eternal enemies.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, forgive our proud and haughty spirit which thinks we have the power to change Your laws, and, if it pleases us, set them aside for rules of our own manufacture. Instead, let us be given peace and hope which comes from the Savior Who has set us free from the clutches of our mortal enemies: sin, Satan and death. This I ask in the Savior's Name. Amen.
Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
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