9.17.2006

Something to think over

"I can never be a true disciple of Jesus Christ until I adequately despise sin. It is not enough for me to abandon sin; I must loathe it. God refers to sin in terms of beastliness, the stubborn horse, the wily snake, the mud-loving pig. That is not accidental. The beast does what is natural to it; its behavior is instinctive, and it is not redeemable. The beastliness of sin represents sin in its farthest distance from God, not merely that which is different from God, but that which is opposite. My true feeling about sin is never reflected about sin in general; it is always about sin in me. God never redeems abstractions or principles; He redeems people. Until I can loathe the sin I commit, I will never understand God's attitude toward my sin.


To be a true disciple of Christ I must see the beastliness of sin before it works its devastation upon me. I must hate it everlastingly. I must never lose my grip on the fact that it was my very own sin that drove Jesus to tears, to loud outcries, to moaning and groaning, and to the bloody nails. When I feel this way about my sin, I will understand Isaiah's 'Woe is me' and what it means to be cleansed with a coal from the altar."


W. Glynn Evans

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