The Beauty of Sin

I know an electrician who recently had a life-altering experience and as I prayed for him, the similarities to his journey and our faith walk became clear to me. A few weeks ago he was at a job that required him to go into the ductwork. A beautiful blue light caught his attention because it was something he had never seen before. He knew it killed bacteria found in the ductwork and as he studied the light, seeking to learn more about it, he saw in small print: DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT LIGHT. So he promptly turned away and went back to the task at hand. A short time later he completed his assignment and went on to the next job.

Much like he was drawn to this particular light, there is a human attraction to sin. It is designed to attract us and it’s often not until we’ve explored it a little that we see the warning sign. So we shrug and think, “that wasn’t so bad” and move along. We may wonder why the warning is there at all, I mean nothing happened, right?

Let’s go back to the story, after a grueling day, the lure of college football drew him to the couch. As bedtime approached, his eyes became a little itchy, not uncommon considering all the allergens he encountered as he went from house to house and business to business throughout his day. Our electrician friend took a quick rinse-off shower and headed to bed. In the middle of the night he was awakened by an incredible pain. When he tried to open his eyes it was as though his eyes had been welded to his lids; he couldn’t move them at all––even with his eyes still shut. Blindly he felt his way to the kitchen sink, a desperate attempt to flush the unbearable pain from his eyes. Fear was setting in as nothing relieved the ache. Early that morning his roommate drove him to the emergency room where he discovered his eyes had severe radiation burns from the beautiful UV light. The next three days he hid from the light counting the hours between ointment doses, and we all prayed for his eyesight to be restored. Thankfully, we saw our prayers answered and he suffers no long-term damage.

Do you see it? The problem with sin? As we explore it—dabble in it even—God provides us with a warning label through the prompting of His Holy Spirit (some may refer to that as your conscience—it’s not) and His Word. Even when we heed the warning and turn away, there is often still damage done from our exposure. Damage we may not notice right away. When we open ourselves to something that isn’t God’s best for us, even when it’s done in ignorance, there is a consequence. The treatment plan is repentance. Yet, many times, we wait for the consequence to be revealed before we seek the Great Physician. Sin is always harmful and the best cure for it is immediate repentance, even when you seem perfectly okay. That warning label also says to seek medical attention if you are exposed. But we want to wait; we want to see if it really matters first. Life has proven to me that it does.

I know too many who have ignored the warnings, ignored the damage or the treatment plan, and walked away from their faith. Our friend was fortunate, he didn’t have permanent damage from his brief encounter with the radiation, but he could have. I’m grateful that his story didn’t end that way and I pray yours doesn’t either.