Sin is a waste of time

Thought for the day:   Sin is not only an affront against God and harmful to your soul, it is a colossal waste of time and harmful to productivity.   When a regenerated person violates God's commands and his/her own conscience, a spiritual process of conviction begins.  The pain and anxiety associated with an unclean conscience, and the process of repentance and restoration take time, energy, and focus away from the things over which God has given us stewardship.   Repentance and restoration are glorious, but purity and dwelling with God are so much better....and more productive.

Fighting temptation is often hard and time-consuming.  There is a lie that our minds generate and Satan stokes that we might just save time by giving in and getting on with other things.   We have to fight this lie by knowing that fighting will always be more productive.   We can get more done--through work and through prayer--by staying pure.    For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. (1 Pet 3:12)  (See also Jas 15:16, Prov 15:29)

Loss of productivity is not the most important reason to stay in God's loving hands, but it is a good reason.  We should desire fruit and despise whatever would rob it.    

Comments

[Matthew Cornell]

Simulating perspective. I've been thinking about sin (at least from an atheist perspective) and one of mine was waste, including natural resources. Thanks for the idea.

[Tony]

Thank you, Matt. I appreciate your comment. As you know, I'm a big fan of your blog.

There are many Christ followers who share your concern about how we, as individuals and as a society, steward God's creation (I understand that you don't think of it in those terms). I think there has historically been great neglect in this arena by Christians. There is evidence that Bible-believing Christians are beginning to repent of this neglect (see this Washington post article on the "Greening of evangelicals" http://tinyurl.com/3nyn3, which captures the heart of many Christians and the challenges that the political landscape presents).

I hope and pray that the growing awareness of the need to engage at a macro level is matched by personal searching of hearts and behaviors at the individual level. "I am a responsible steward of God's natural resources" should be on a project or horizons-of-focus list for every Christian.

Thanks, again, Matt.