What's going on internet! Long time no see. I have been tasked with the Intro to Sin talk and I got to admit it's a hard and long one. I didn't know where to start. Do I start off with a verse? A story? So I put myself where my kids sit. What are they thinking? Do they know what sin is? And it hit me, I should start with what sin actually is.
What it is, and what it isn't
I'll start with the "is nots". Sin is not watching pornography. It is not cheating on a test. Or lying. Or having sex. Sin is not a verb. It is not an action. Sin is a noun. Some describe it as a wall, gap or a disease. I describe it as a thirst. Paul said this life is the "Great Race". Sin is that thirst and the "verbs" is what we do to fulfill that thirst. So imagine you are running a marathon accept in this marathon you have this thing we call Life handing you junk like Coca-Cola or Red-bull, Yeah, they will quench your thirst for a little bit but down the line you will end up with a cramp or get dangerously dehydrated.
We can say the same thing on the opposite end. Reading the Bible everyday does not make you saved. Feeding the poor, never doing anything really bad, being a pastor, being a good dad/mom, etc, etc, does not mean you are saved. Jesus Himself said "depart from me, I never knew you" to people who were casting out demons! It's not the actions you have done in this life, it's about if you accepted the Gift Jesus tries to give all us. Everything else is "meaningless".
Going back to the marathon, the good things are your protein shakes or wheat grass shots. Yeah they are good for you, but after awhile you are going to get sick of those too. Among all this chaos of Life though there is a guy running along side you yelling "Hey, I got this awesome water, just meet me halfway!" The first person who took this guy's offer was a woman. No she was never named. We just know she was from Samaria. That woman is known as today as the Samaritan woman and she never thirsted again.
There are other stories though of people who never found out how to quench that thirst. They are people struggling today. I have friends who try to please God by following rules who keep messing up over and over again. They think God is this big white guy in the sky with a messy beard judging their every action, thought, internet link, word, etc, etc. They don't know that God is more than someone who is just in a book, more than a fantasy, more than prayer, more than a deity who is CONSTANTLY disappointed in them. They don't know God actually loves their positives and their negatives. They don't know that every rule they follow or break is meaningless. They don't know that God's love is not deserved, that it is given.
