TREAT SIN LIKE COVID-19

Sir,

Recently I read a book by Ellen G White and came across a statement that made me stop and think. It was a simple statement but its implications were earthshaking.

The statement said; “Shun the incurring of debt as you would shun leprosy.” It was a statement that I couldn’t get out of my mind. That day the statement was like a song to me. I read it in the morning but it kept rattling in my head for the rest of the day. It even brought another thought to my mind. I tried putting the statement in our context and I asked myself; “What if we could shun sin like it was the coronavirus.”

Impacted

The coronavirus is indeed a serious dilemma. We know that it can infect us and cause illness and it has impacted hundreds of thousands of people all over the world. And because of the seriousness of this outbreak, we’ve been asked to do some extraordinary things to prevent its spread. This is a serious issue. But the fact is, we have another predicament that is even more serious than the coronavirus. It is called sin. Sin can come into our lives and cause spiritual illness. And if we let sin go too far, it can cause spiritual death. It can cause us to do things we know we shouldn’t do. It can keep us from doing things we know we should do.

James 4:17 tells us; “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” The most common New Testament word for sin is hamartia. Hamartia means ‘failing to hit the mark’; it means that we deviate from God’s prescribed law. And whether by omission (failing to do what we know is right), or commission (doing what we know is wrong), sin can happen in our thoughts, our words or our deeds.

Trespass

There is also another word that describes sin, ‘parabasis’. The word parabasis means ‘trespass’ or ‘transgression’. This word literally means to ‘step across the line’. We see signs all the time posted on private property that say ‘No Trespassing’. We know what that means. If we step over a property line, we have trespassed on another person’s land. It’s like that with sin as well. The person who steps across, who ignores God’s standard of righteousness, has committed a trespass or transgression.

Today sin seems to be promoted and encouraged by the Hollywood scene. We see movies and TV shows that depict sin as no big deal.
We read books where sin is encouraged, elevated and practised. We see governments passing laws that legalise what God says is sin. And we see many people who are living lifestyles where sin is ignored, where God’s commandments are broken. But you see, here’s the big problem with sin. Romans 6:23 says; “For the wages of sin is death.”

Treating

Now because the coronavirus is a serious issue, the world is treating it seriously. In places where the virus is spreading, we’ve been using extraordinary measures to try to stop its impact. Every single person is being encouraged to change the normal way of doing things, and life has been changed dramatically in response to this disease.

But here’s a thought. What if we got as serious about the sins in our lives as we have about the coronavirus? How would our lives change?

Bopoto Gwinyai

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