Sin? Why Not?

Want to live with poisonous snakes? A guy from England has decided he does. Here's a report from SkyNews:

A Sussex carpenter is hoping to break a world record by spending nearly four months in a room with some of the world's mos venomous snakes.

David Jones, 44, from Crawley, will carry out his 121-day challenge in Johannesburg on April 24.

His room-mates will include deadly puff adders, snouted cobras, boomslangs and green and black mambas.

That's CRAZY! I can, without a doubt, say that's something I would never do. But there are plenty of things I have done, and will probably do again, that are dangerous to my life, peace and joy. Daily we walk right into sin despite its deadly consequences. Why is this? Maybe its because we have an incorrect perspective of what sin is. Maybe its because we don't believe the consequences.

Here's a quote to help you get the right perspective of sin:

Sin, biblically speaking, is not only the absence of good. It also entails our active opposition to God. It is, then, the defiance of his authority, the rejection of his truth, the challenge to his sovereignty in which we set ourselves up in life to live the way we want to live. It is the way we wrench ourlseves free from obedience to him, cut ourselves off from his grasp, and refuse to let him be God. It is therefore all the ways we live life on our own terms, to our own ends, with accountability to no one but ourselves...the target missed, the path abandoned, the authority defied, the law transgressed are in each and every case God's. Sin is all about taking issue with God, defying him, refusing to submit to him, and displacing him from the center of existence.

David F. Wells, The Courage to Be Protestant, Page 102

Sin is not just about breaking a rule, its about defying God directly.

And this God that we so quickly and easily defy on a daily basis has given us ample warning as to the dangers of sin. Check out a few from Hosea 13:

Sin leads to death (v1)
Sin encourages sin (v2)
Sin is a waste of the talents God has given you (v2b)
Sin is a waste of the small amount of time you have (v3)
Sin ignores the goodness & greatness of God (v4-7)
Sin invites the wrathful discipline of God (v7-11)
Sin continued makes repentance difficult (v12-14)
Sin’s pleasures won’t last (v15-16)

There comes a point where you have to take the warnings and the consequences seriously...now is the time!