Sin's Sting

My daughter was recently clearing away some blackberry vines bordering their yard. Her rake accidental disturbed a hidden hornets' nest and angered, they swarmed to attack.
She screamed and ran , managing to escape with only six stings.

While she kept saying how thankful she was that she was not stung more times, those bites did cause her a great deal of pain and discomfort. The sting areas became hot and inflamed, the poison going deep and spreading.

A hornet's initial sting is not the problem .... that is quickly over - it is the injected poison that continues working its destructive damage deep into the flesh and can even in extreme cases cause death.

I thought about what a good picture this is of sin.
We don't expect to get 'stung' by it , but if we play close to where sin lurks there is a good chance we will suffer the consequences.

And maybe the initial 'sting' of it doesn't even seem that important. It may be a small 'sin' , something we plan on doing only once. Or something we do in secret that we think no one else will see or know. Maybe we entertain hidden sinful thoughts, or unforgiveness. Maybe its something 'everyone is doing'.

There is a verse that says it so well...
Co 15:56 "The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law."

Death is our enemy - spiritual death - it lurks in hidden places waiting to lure us close to its 'nest'. One little 'sin' or six - is death's sting.... and the poison begins to inflame and work deep into our soul.

And what is its strength? The root of the Greek word translated 'law' is 'to parcel out food'. Is that not how our human nature reacts to a 'law' - letting it feed the temptation to sin ? We do not want to be told what to do --- rather than accept a law or commandment of God as a good thing , we rebel against it, preferring to find our own way... and 'sin' has much to feed on ... giving it strength in our life.

There is a descriptive verse in Gen 4:7 , "If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it."

If we rebel against the commandments that God has lovingly given us to keep us safe, "sin lies at the door" . Just like the hornets intent on stinging my daughter, sin's desire is also for you. But we can 'rule over it'.

A 'spray can' ruled over the hornets, and soon they lay dead. We too, by the Power of the Holy Spirit can rule over the temptations that come to each of us. We can 'spray' them with God's Word...and choose to live in the safety of scriptures' boundaries.

May we be strong and live in the light of love where the sting of sin cannot reach us..

I John 2:10 "He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. "