Senseless

Photo courtesy of poetreecreations.org

I remember hearing the devastating news about the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School about a year and a half ago, which came just months after a mass shooting at a Batman movie premiere in a Colorado theater.  The buzz word for the coverage for both of those tragic events was "senseless"--reporters, witnesses, victims...they all had the same thing to say about these heinous acts of evil...they just seemed so very...senseless.  With a kindergarten student under my roof at the time, it was a sobering reality for me as a parent regarding the evil present in today's world.

However, when we explore the pages of Scripture, we see that in God's view...ALL sin is...well, senseless. You see, when Adam and Eve traded perfect marital intimacy and fellowship with God...to take a bite of the forbidden fruit (Gen 3), that was just plain...senseless.  And when a brother killed his fellow brother after they offered different sacrifices to the Lord (Gen 4)...well, that was just...senseless.  And we see this at work in our own lives as well!  Anytime we disregard the Sovereign God, who orchestrates past, present, and future, and choose to trust our own judgement to make a decision during our day...well, that is just plain...senseless.  Or when we read God's Law, which (through God's divine wisdom) commands us not to covet or worship anything above God Himself (Exodus 20)...and we lust after the possessions of our neighbor, when we as believers have ALL the riches of Christ (Eph 3:8) and hold the very keys of His kingdom in our grip (Matt 16:19)...well, that is just senseless.  You see, it is not those headline splashing, heinous crimes and evils that are the "senseless" goings-ons in our world...but I would submit to you that it is also those quiet, socially acceptable, benign-appearing crimes against our Almighty God that are just as senseless!  When we fail to recognize that sin...any sin...is the utmost rebellion against a Holy and Just God deserving of eternal punishment, as revealed from the truth of God's Word...then we will forever be in bondage to sin and all the darkness of Hell and never live victoriously as Christians in full obedience to Him.

I used to think that Satan was the worst evil in our present reality, but that is not so!  After all, Satan was created by a Holy God as a beautiful angel of light (Ezekiel 28).  What happened?  Sin...pride specifically.  You see, SIN is what made Satan the Satan we know and hate from the pages of Scripture.  And that same sin is at work in our members, as well!  Dear friend, let us abhor and disdain ALL sin...especially the sin we find embedded deep inside our own hearts!  The world will encourage us to rename it...to deny it's true identity.  You see, even in Scripture, we see that when one names (or renames) something (Adam with the animals, God with His people), he has dominion over it.  And so we are encouraged to twist and distort and rename sin, saying we make "mistakes," "bad choices," or succumb to "character flaws."  We choose to couch sin in terms of "white lies," "deserved indulgences," defense of personal "rights," and all sorts of unbiblical nonsense.  But we as believers know better!  Christ did not come into this world to die for "character flaws" and "moral weaknesses"--NO...He came to do away with SIN and DEATH (two concepts that are inseparable per Rom 6:23).  It is because we find freedom in Christ that we have the power to name sin for what it is, as the Holy Spirit gently reveals the truths of Scripture to our hearts and convicts of us our sin, and He empowers us to "put off" our old sinful nature by the renewing of our minds, and "put on" the new nature of Christ (Eph 4:22-23).  Scripture promises us that when we confess our sin (naming it for what it is and agreeing with Him that it is in fact, utmost rebellion against Him), He is faithful to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9)!  So, let us all turn from the senselessness of sin in all its forms in this life and turn to Christ, confessing our sin and walking in renewed fellowship with Him!