The Sickness of Sin (Friday Devotional)

“It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

- Mark 7:20-23

Two weeks ago, my son Andrew was unusually lethargic when we woke him up for school and was running a low-grade fever. With so many bugs running rampant, I took him to Urgent Care to see what was up and, after running the usual tests for strep, flu, and COVID, the doctor came back with a verdict: influenza A. We were instructed to keep him home from school for the rest of the week since that’s how long he would be contagious.

Here's the thing—after that first day, Andrew seemed to feel fine. He had plenty of energy, a normal appetite, and no discernible symptoms. Nevertheless, following doctor’s orders, we kept him home from school all week long. He watched waaaaay more TV than we would normally allow. He stayed in his pajamas all day. Being sick, he decided, was pretty great.

But then the following week, just when we were ready to send him back to school, his flu had some sort of a surge (or he came down with something else). Suddenly, we couldn’t keep his fever below 101 degrees for more than an hour or two. He didn’t want to eat anything. He was rarely awake for more than a couple hours at a time. Just like that, he decided it wasn’t so fun to be sick anymore.

It occurs to me that sin is a lot like my son’s experience with the flu. At first, yielding to temptation is often pretty satisfying—your flesh is gratified and any potential consequences seem to be a million miles away. But inevitably, after the binge comes the hangover—whether it happens immediately or years down the road, brokenness within leads to brokenness on the outside.

But here’s the good news: just as we were able to treat my son’s illness with medicine, there is a cure for the sickness of sin. Jesus died on the cross so that, by grace and through faith, we could be healed, so that sin would not have the final word. If you confess your sins, the Lord is faithful to forgive you and cleanse you, to make you new in him.

Our world excuses and glorifies sin, but all it takes is a little life experience to see that the juice isn’t worth the squeeze. Being sick isn’t fun—so come to Jesus and be healed.