Could Your Sin....

...kill you?

Several years ago Jason's cousin's husband accepted Christ as his Savior after hearing one of my late father-in-law's sermons. It was a great blessing and he seemed to really be making strides as a Christian. He was a very friendly, helpful young man. A year and a half ago they had a little boy, whom they named after a Bible character he had been studying in his devotions.

Unforuntately he had had a long struggle with drugs and that past continued to haunt him even as a Christian. He enrolled in a variety of programs to help in this area, but he either left them early or fell back into it after being clean. We last saw him at my father-in-law's funeral in January - he had been given permission to leave the program he was currently in for a couple days. He seemed to be doing well. Unfortunately he left the program shortly after and in June we found out he tried to overdose. The fact that he survived with mental function was a miracle.

Sadly, Chris died this past weekend. Although it appeared he had been taking drugs, there were no drugs found in his system. The unfortunate part is they believe he thought he was taking drugs when in fact he was given something bad. Detectives are currently looking into the matter. We may never know what happened, what he was given, or why someone gave him something other than drugs. We may never fully understand why God chose to let a little 18 mo. old boy lose his daddy and an eight yr. old girl lose the only real father figure she's had in her life.

But one thing I do know - sin does kill. It might not kill us physically as it did to Chris. We often look at sin in levels - wrong, bad, and terrible. Hmmm, all those words seem negative, don't they? Yes, the consequences of a sin might be different. We probably won't catch an incurable disease by being selfish or deceitful, but the effects on us emotionally and spiritually will be the same. Our relationship with God and even with others will suffer as a result. Over time we may become desensitized to our sin, leading us down a pathway ridden with guilt and regret.

It is easy to look at someone who has such a visual, morally reprehensible sin and think, "They really need to get a handle on that" or "They need to surrender that area of their lives to God." We may even expect a miracle transformation - why would a good Christian keep falling into that type of sin? Well, why do you sin? Why do you keep following along a course of recurring sin? You do sin, don't you? And you probably struggle with certain areas over and over again.

My heart is truly burdened. We do believe Chris made a profession of faith and if so, I do believe I will see him in Heaven one day. At the same time, my heart aches for his wife and even more for the two children - one who's lost his father and the other who never knew her father and now lost the one she had. There will be many issues for them to face, many decisions to be made, and hopefully a God for them to trust in and follow. They need your prayers.