As we go through the week leading up to Easter, there is much thought of the Savior and His glorious resurrection. There is much emphasis on the sacrifice and free gift of salvation that He has offered us. As His children, let us not forget the very thing that placed Him on the cross: sin.
We see the record of the first ever sin in Genesis 3:6 which says, “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” Eve had been warned not to eat of the fruit but in the face of temptation she gave in. Although she knew what she had been told, the fruit appeared to be good. Not only did she take of the fruit, but she shared it with her husband. How often do we take of things that we know are bad for us simply because we have convinced ourselves otherwise? In that moment our actions say, “We know better than God”. We then convince those around us to do the same.
Eating a bit of “forbidden fruit” can’t do that much harm right? Telling a little stretcher, letting one curse word slip, talking about Sally (so that Susie can be praying, of course), filling our ears and minds with ungodliness (but we would never say or do those things ourselves, of course), cheating on a test, knowingly causing our brother to stumble… and so forth. These are all small things that everyone does from time to time. It's okay…right!? After all, God knows we aren’t perfect.
So often we look at sin with such a flippant attitude. We try to sooth ourselves and others by claiming that “it’s not a big deal.” We see in Genesis that one “small sin” came with a great price. Looking further into the passage we see that the first death (shedding of blood) had to take place to cover their sins (Genesis 3:21). The same is true of our “small sin.” We often become complacent and hardened to the truth that Jesus Christ came to die for our sin. The fact is, Jesus would have had to and chose to die if the only sin ever committed was that one little fib from your mouth. When we look at each sin with the perspective that “Jesus died for that,” we become so much more aware of its effect. To think that the perfect Savior would have gone through that same punishment to redeem me, even if I were the only sinner to ever exist.
Proverbs 14:9 says, “Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour.” Let us not make light of the very thing that drove nails through our Savior's hands. As children of God we need to treat sin as the terrible thing that it is. It’s not a pet or a friend, rather it is something we must take seriously and flee from. It is something that breaks the heart of our heavenly Father.
As we meditate upon our Savior’s great sacrifice and miraculous resurrection this week, let us do it with such thankfulness. Let’s take a close observation of our lives and get rid of those things which pressed the crown of thorns into His head. Let us do more than speak of gratitude with our lips but rather live it out in our lives.