Hunting season.
Flu season.
Holiday season.
Sinning season.
Yeah, I said it. Sinning Season. And the only license you need is a dull conscience.
It’s not a year-round event. In fact, it often sneaks up on us as Christians when we begin to let things slip, and life doesn’t seems worse for it. Sometimes, whether consciously or not, we can begin to gauge our success and measure our obedience on how many bad things are NOT happening in our life.
“Didn’t have time for my devos all of last week. There are just so many other things that need my attention. It’s hard to take time off to study.”
Maybe our weakness is related to flim/tv/novels. “It doesn’t seem to affect my relationships at church, and I’m still loving my spouse unconditionally,” and we continue to fill our minds with content of the world.
Sometimes it doesn’t even start as a sin. The comment we made about our elderly parents was just meant to lighten the mood, but now, our attitude oozes disrespect and contempt toward them and our responsibilities for them.
It could be, you picked on your husband in front of your in-laws and kids last month, and weeks later, you realize that dissenting attitude has grown, and your kids are catching on.
Over time, we find ourselves overwhelmed, under-energized, grumpy, sad, and confused because we’ve been zooming along without check, living loosely, and losing sight of the standard for which we ought always strive: to be like Christ.
It’s like the automobile driver that hasn’t had a ticket in a while. He slowly begins to increase his average speed. 5 over. 8 over. 10 over. “Most cops won’t stop you unless you go over 10.” Soon, he’s regularly going 12-15 over the speed limit without even having to justify to his conscience about why it’s okay to travel that fast because he’s just keeping up with the rest of traffic.
Until he gets pulled over.
The little sins in our life stack up, and will take over if we don’t pay attention to our sin-ometer.
Make a point to check your speed before circumstances pull you over:
Do you have accountability in place to help you get back on track with devotions?
Are you honoring your parents?
Do you lift your husband up, in public and in private?
Are the things you put into your mind (music/tv/books) helping you focus on Christ, or serving as the “duck call” in a season of sin?
Romans 6:1 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?
Romans 6:12-14 “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.”
In closing, I just want to take a moment to praise God for His forgiveness! 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We serve a great God who loves welcoming the sinners home, no matter the length of the season, and giving us a clean start! Let that be our motivation to do our best to stay on track!!
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