Sin is real

Nobody likes to talk about sin ever. It has become a trend even from the pulpit of some churches, the so called seeker friendly churches. But, the apostle Paul, in Romans chapter 1, specially in the latter part, talks about how depraved man is and therefore, how horrible and destructive sin is in the life of many causing havoc wherever it creeps in.

The first four verses of Psalm 36 talk about the sinful man so there's no doubt that sin is very real and needs to be discussed. Why wouldn't you like to talk about something so serious that if avoided, could save many marriages, many churches, many friendships, many business and many personal relationships? Sin is real my friend and you need to know that. Being ignorant of it could lead you to a downward spiral of destruction that sometimes, it's very hard to get out of.

Let's start diving into this serious but most detailing psalm in regards our sins in our lives. First, sin is real because is engraved in the most intimate part of your body, the heart (Psalm 36:1). The heart is the place where emotions start whether good or bad; it's where you feel the enjoyments and the disappointments of your life; it's where hatred or love comes out of. It's very powerful but beware: "the heart is deceitful more than anything else, it's perverse, who will know it". Secondly, Sin can blind you. Verse 1 continues to say that the one who lets sin speak into their hearts has no fear of God and that's dangerous! Very, very dangerous! And there's a reason for that lack of fear. Verse 2 talks about it. The wicked man has come to believe that he has out smarted God. His self sufficiency has become so rigid and prideful that he believes sins are so deeply hidden in his own heart that they cannot be found. The nerves of some people. How can they believe that their sins would be hidden from the One who searches the heart; from the One whose thoughts are higher than ours. It's inconceivable to think that we can hide from Him, the One who knows it all. It's just unbelievable that some of us could think that way sometimes. But, I guess we all have come to that point of self reliance and big-headedness, and luckily, we have come out of that state of mind real quickly. This is possible with the help of our God, our true infallible help.

Thirdly, sin is real because our speech demonstrates it. We can see this in the beginning of verse 3: "the words of his mouth are trouble and deceit". Jesus taught us that "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" and even though "the wicked man" refers to an unregenerate man, you cannot deny that, at times, what comes out of our  mouths is not necessarily peaches and roses. We should all strive, as Paul says, to have our words "seasoned with salt" before those words come out of our mouths. Sometimes our words affect the unbelieving soul so much that it is very hard to bring them back to a place where they're willing to listen to the gospel again. Our speech could be a blessing or it could be a curse. "How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! the apostle James says in chapter 3 of his letter. He's referring to our tongues and the fact how such a small member of our bodies can cause such a havoc! Therefore, my brethren, chose wise words instead of foolish ones. That takes us to our next point. The sinful man 

"has ceased to act wisely and do good". When sin  has taken over, it causes men to act foolishly and consequently, doing good is no longer a priority. Like mentioned above, the heart has been severed due to the constant influence of sin and the possibility of  being a blessing to others has been severely impacted. Sin has taken root in what it used to be a good heart. Not only our words are not wise, but our actions are not wise either.

This acting unwisely takes the sinful man to an even deeper level of wickedness. He starts plotting trouble on his bed (verse 4). His sinfulness  is now purposely  planning ways to do evil, "he sets himself in a way that is not good". Instead of laying in bed counting his blessings, he's now contemplating  to do a myriad of evil things that will take him to the ultimate level of evil. He has set himself in a very dangerous place in life where evil is no longer rejected (verse 4c). Sin has blinded him so deeply that evil has become a constant in his life and it's being perceived as normal. His heart has become so rigid that evil is the only language that he can speak. He has succumbed to the worst level of wickedness by not rejecting evil.

Do we really want to get to that level? Are we that blind that we can't see the destructive progression of our sins? When we sin, can we humble ourselves and admit it to a beloved brother or sister and seek restoration? In God's time table, it's never too late to seek restoration but is it really worth it to let things get worse instead of stopping the sinful patterns from the beginning?

David doesn't end the Psalm  in verse 4 and that's a relief. In verse 5, he immediately starts talking about God's love: "Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds". Aren't you glad that God's love is bigger than all our sins? Thank God for Jesus! Thank God that His love endures forever! He's always faithful even though we're not at times. We don't want to act like the wicked man, but when we do, God is always there to receive us in our humble repentance. Make a God a priority and not your sin. Even though in the beginning it might seem like a fun ride, the ultimate end of sin is destruction. Let's be a source of blessings to others and not of cursing. Sin is very real. Don't let it destroy you. At the very first sign of its ugly head creeping in, you should seek guidance from your heavenly Father and good mature believers. Don't let it progress. You'll be glad that you made the decision to battle that sin head on from the very begining. God loves you but He hates sin. Let's make Him proud by not getting too acquainted with it. Remember "grace, grace, God's grace, grace that can pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that is greater that all our sins". Grace is greater than all our sins but don't take that as an opportunity to sin more, that's heresy! Take it as an opportunity to sin less. God deserves that and much more for what He has given you in Jesus through His sacrifice. Be blessed!