So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. … Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord [Romans 7:17-20,24-25 (NLT)]
Sin is like a cancer that destroys step by step, sometimes so slowly we don’t realize what’s happening to us. [David Jeremiah]
A suspicious spot was removed at my annual dermatology appointment. When the biopsy indicated cancer, I had Mohs surgery to remove it. In Mohs, the tissue is sliced off in stages and examined by the pathologist to determine if (and where) any cancerous tissue remains. If it does, the surgeon removes the next layer of tissue, the pathologist examines it, and the process continues until no cancer cells remain. While it’s a time-consuming process, Mohs spares healthy tissue while eradicating all of the cancer.
I had a fair amount of time between slicing sessions to ponder how sin is like cancer. Although I look at my face every day, I didn’t recognize that little spot as anything dangerous and I think we’re like that with sin. A large raised red patch would have been easy to notice—the same way a big sin like murder or armed robbery is easily spotted. Small cancers like mine are not so obvious to the naked eye just like a spot of envy, smidgen of gossip, slight stretch of truth, or speck of flirtation can easily be ignored. Moreover, both skin cancer and sin look quite different from one person to another and it seems we’re more likely to notice defects in others than in ourselves!
Unlike skin cancer, which some people get while others never do, none of us truly can avoid contact with sin! Like cancer, sin is opportunistic; it’s just waiting for a chance to invade healthy tissue (and lives). Just as a little spot of unnoticed cancer can grow both deeper and wider so can a little overlooked sin. Fortunately, both cancer and sin are treatable when discovered early enough; they both can be deadly when not.
Although my physician kept my medical record, biopsy reports, and before and after photos, once our sins are forgiven God does not remember them. Being saved means that our confessed and repented sins are forgiven and the slate is wiped clean. Being saved, however, doesn’t mean that we won’t continue to struggle with our propensity to sin any more than having that one spot of cancer removed means I’ll never have another. Just as using sun block with a high SPF is no guarantee against skin cancer, being saved does not guarantee a sin-free life. While sin no longer reigns, like a stray cancer cell, it manages to survive and will try to destroy us.
A dermatologist and pathologist were needed to diagnose my cancer but a little prayerful reflection is all we need to find the sin in our lives. When we ask God to point out anything He finds offensive in us, we can be sure the Holy Spirit will make His voice heard. We go to a doctor to eradicate cancer but, to free us from sin, we go to the Great Physician: Jesus Christ! When a cancerous growth is excised, the doctors and nurses do all of the work but the work of cutting out the sin in our lives requires our effort. Granted, we’ll be empowered by the Spirit but it’s up to us to yield to God’s will and obey His word. While the Holy Spirit enables us to overcome sinful thoughts, attitudes, and actions, it’s up to us to say “No!”
Christ is the good physician. There is no disease he cannot heal; no sin he cannot remove; no trouble he cannot help. He is the Balm of Gilead, the Great Physician who has never yet failed to heal all the spiritual maladies of every soul that has come unto him in faith and prayer. [James H. Aughey]
Last Sunday, my husband and I lit the candle of hope on our Advent wreath. This Sunday, we’ll re-light that one along with a second candle, the one we call the peace or Bethlehem candle. Because the Advent wreath custom has been adapted in a variety of ways through the years, there are several names for the candles and explanations for their symbolism that probably have more to do with the selling of wreaths, candles, and devotional booklets than with church tradition. There are no official names, meanings or rituals because an Advent wreath isn’t based on Scripture. It’s merely a tradition to help make this season more meaningful.
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. [Isaiah 11:1-2 (RSV)]
With the back-to-back hurricanes that tore through Louisiana, two others that devastated Nicaragua and Honduras, and the consecutive typhoons that flooded the Philippines, a great many people must be asking, “Why us, Lord?” In spite of the meteorological explanations for the paths taken by those storms, there is something discomforting about the seeming randomness of such destruction. I can’t help but wonder, “Why them and not us?” In a universe of retribution and reward, we’d have a sense of being able to control our destiny; only bad things would happen to bad people and only good things to the good ones. If we did all the right things, life would go smoothly and, if we didn’t, we’d just be getting what we deserved! That, however, is not the way of the world and back-to-back hurricanes along with cancer, ALS, hit-and-run-drivers, stray bullets, and tornadoes hit both the deserving and undeserving.
Devotions of the Heart 