GoSample

          There was a time when my three-year-old son was helping make popcorn on the stovetop in preparation for a family movie night. I can remember watching each kernel pop with my son standing on a chair near the stove. He was so excited that at one point, he reached in to grab a handful of freshly popped popcorn and burned his hand on the side of the pot. Even today, five years later, he still remembers that experience vividly in his mind. To this day, he is extra cautious in the kitchen. He especially maintains his distance from the stove as he remembers the pain it caused him all those years ago.

          I wish our attitudes towards sin were more like my son’s attitude towards the kitchen stove. Often, we flirt with habitual sins in our lives, whether it be a small lie to put our parents at ease, our gaze and imagination lingering a little longer on someone we find attractive, or sharing answers from our homework with a friend. We justify ourselves by saying, “Oh, it’s not like I murdered someone” or “ I had practice last night and didn’t have time to do all my homework alone.” But these justifications fail to take the consequences of sin in our lives seriously. In Scripture, we consistently see the command to run from sin, to turn away from the things of this world. Yet instead of fleeing, we flirt with sin. 

          This cheapens the grace that God has shown us through Christ’s sacrifice. Paul tells us that we have died to sin. We should treat the sin the same way my son treats the kitchen stove, by staying as far away as possible. We may still wrestle with sin, but as Christ tells the woman caught in adultery when he offers her forgiveness and grace instead of shame, we should “Go and leave our lifestyle of sin.” So, I ask you: what sins are you flirting with that you need to flee from?

Reflect

• What are some reasons we struggle to keep our distance from sin?
• How does playing with sin after our salvation cheapen grace?
• Pray that God will help you identify the sins you are flirting with, and give you the strength to flee from them.