One must always remember that problems are part of life; the only place without a problem will be in a cemetery. A problem gives meaning to life, and reasons to stay focused. There are problems we can easily handle but not all, for that reason we must know God and have close intimate relationship with Him, to live a better life. But sometimes the little problems do us a lot of damage, maybe because we don’t pay enough attention to them. It can probably be sin!
When we speak of sin, everybody understands what we are talking about. At least that’s what we think. Sin means to kill, steal, hurt other people, and tell big lies… almost everyone would agree with that. But God doesn’t. The Bible says that sin is everything that is not perfect.
We often think that we are Righteous; after all, we don’t commit big sins, we behave ourselves, and we try to do good for others. Who could say anything against us? God, however, says that there isn’t ONE single righteous person in the world (Rom 3:10). We have all sinned. No one is perfect. Well, okay, we realize that is true, but why doesn’t God just overlook these little sins? After all, they don’t really hurt anyone.
Let me give an example. Just imagine that you’re in the hospital for an operation. There is the Surgeon in a clean white robe, with all his instruments perfectly in order in front of him. He picks up the scalpel and, suddenly, you see that it is not clean. “Hey! What are you doing?” you say. “You’re not going to operate on me with that dirty scalpel, are you?” The Surgeon replies, “It doesn’t matter. It only has small germs, so small that you can’t even see them. But the theme of the hospital is ‘Live and let live’, and germs also have a right to live.” Without a second thought, you would run away from that hospital as fast as possible, because you know that even one of the microscopic germs on that scalpel could kill you. Well, what about the small sins that bring destruction, pain and suffering, which we fail to escape from, but commit.
God is not just for not overlooking even one of our sins. When He does this He is protecting our very lives. Do you think you are righteous? Your sin accuses you. However small you think your sins are, they can cause you destruction. In the sporting context, a small physical problem can paralyze the entire body of a great sportsman, even his professional career. How much more, in our spiritual life, can just one small sin come to be the destruction of our life!
Remember that sin is not you doing it; but someone makes you do it.
So now, what do we do? Very simple – there is someone who took our place and received the punishment that we deserved for our sins. Jesus Christ. His death freed us from condemnation, and His resurrection gives us life. Do you believe it? God says that only those who believe have the right to receive His forgiveness.
“Evil is not measured by size, but by its consequences.”
Dr. Thamsing D Lamkang
