The Temporary Enjoyment of Sin

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© Gods Breath Publications

 

We’ve all committed sins and we start young. One sin we commit is that of stealing what is not ours. I remember one thing I stole as a young boy was a set of calipers from my grandfather’s toolbox. My dad and I went out to the ranch near Maud, Oklahoma where my grandfather’s herd of cows was pastured. My dad had to get some tools from the barn. I say barn, but really it was a huge abandoned oil storage tank left over from the oil boom era in that particular area of Oklahoma. Maud was an oil boomtown that had flourished and expanded during good times, but once the oil ran out it has now become a ghost town. The oil storage tanks were left dotting the landscape and many ranchers used them to store supplies, tools and feed.

 

My father and I entered the huge circular metal container. It smelled of dust, fertilizer, and hay with a faint touch of crude oil. As my dad searched for what he needed I enjoyed exploring this massive cavern. I opened an old tool chest and there lying amidst the screwdrivers and wrenches was a beautiful unique instrument I had never laid my young eyes upon. It had a small knob-like wheel that rolled along a shaft which opened the long pointed claws at the other end. Along its length were various marks and numbers. It was fascinating to me for some reason. I went over and asked my dad if I could have it and he said that I should put it back and leave it where it was. He called it a “caliper” and said it was used for measuring. I frowned and put it back.

 

We left the storage tank and went out to feed the cows. While they usually grazed on the stubbles of grass on the ranch we supplemented their diet with hay and other types of feed. It took about an hour to reach the cows, dump the hay, throw the feed and return to the main ranch area. All during the feeding I couldn’t stop thinking about those wonderful interesting calipers. Before we left the ranch my dad wanted to return to the storage tank and put away some extra feed we hadn’t used. Could I use this opportunity to obtain the calipers? I would only borrow them I thought. It looked like no one had opened the toolbox in years. What would be the problem with me taking them?

 

When I entered the storage tank again, I wandered around pretending to explore various boxes and shelves, all the while heading in the direction of the toolbox. As you can tell temptation was beginning to give birth to sin! I fumbled around making some noise giving the impression that I was looking at various tools while in my mind I was planning the heist of the calipers. My dad would soon be finished. I needed to hurry. I managed to get to the toolbox, open it and slowly wrapped my hands around the calipers. I lifted them out, stood up and kept my hand straight along my leg so that my dad couldn’t see that I had taken them. My heart was pounding in my chest and adrenaline was pumping through my young veins and arteries as I contemplated what I was doing. A sin had been born. I returned to my meaningless wandering and then my dad said, “Let’s go.”

 

I managed to slip the calipers in my jeans pocket and beamed in my success in obtaining my prize. We returned home and I ran to my bedroom to examine my treasure. I moved the round knob and the long claws of the caliper moved further apart smoothly and accurately. I examined every millimeter of the tool and marveled at its workmanship. For several days I would take the set of calipers out from under my mattress and look at its features and play with its accurate moving parts. Soon my interest with my stolen property began to tarnish. I had grown tired of inspecting it over and over. I couldn’t share my stolen possession with anyone because it did not really belong to me. Then guilt began to grow within my heart. I wanted to put it back, but how could I do this. I was trapped. I was cursed. I knew I had sinned and guilt plagued my young soul.

 

I went with my dad again to the ranch and planned to return it to the toolbox but he didn’t have any reason to go into the oil storage tank. I tried to dream up reasons we should go inside but he refused. What was I to do? The guilt was burning hot, deep inside my soul. I couldn’t stand it.

 

Finally the torment of my sin overwhelmed me. It would be hard, but I had to communicate my theft to my father. I couldn’t face him so I decided to take the calipers and place them on a shelf in plain view in the hallway of our house. I knew my dad would see them there and ask me how they had appeared all of a sudden.

 

I sat on my bed waiting to be confronted with dad’s righteous judgment. There was a knock on my bedroom door. I burst into tears even before my dad entered the room. He was gentle in his discipline. I believe he knew that I had suffered a lot already. My guilt had wounded my soul and I had paid a penalty for my sin. My heart and mind had been ravaged by the sin I had committed. So I learned a lesson that day. There is a penalty for breaking the command, “Thou shalt not steal.” There are consequences for any type of sin.

 

Romans 6:23 states, “For the wages of sin is death.” I wondered as a young boy if in my sin I had experienced a little of what death without Christ is like. I wondered if the burning pain I felt from my sin is related to the burning fire that those who refuse Jesus will experience in hell. I wondered if the fire of hell is physical, spiritual or both. Does the pain of hell come from within your own soul as you realize you have rejected the Lord of lords and the King of kings? Is it possible that those who fail to accept Christ as their Savior experience a physical, emotional, spiritual and psychological burning when they are condemned to hell because they realize the mistake they have made in rejecting Him? Whatever hell is, I know it is not a place that will be nice. I know for many people there is hell on earth for they live in rebellion against God every day.

 

Fortunately there is another portion of this verse that gives us hope, “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Oh how horrible it would be if there were no second part to this verse. To be left under the wages of sin and held in its grasp without any hope of deliverance would not only be horribly depressing it would be ultimately terminal, like having a disease with no cure. I thank God to this day for His love and provision for salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ. Thanks to God, He provided an avenue of forgiveness and salvation from our predicament. Just like in my situation of sin in the stealing of the calipers where my father forgave me and was merciful in his discipline, God grants us mercy and grace as well.

 

Whenever we sin against God as a Christian we can always approach Him and ask for forgiveness. He’s not waiting for us with club in hand desiring to beat us to a pulp for committing sin. He waits for us, anxious to restore fellowship. He longs for us to come before Him, repentant and seeking to be forgiven. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Here we see in this short verse the assurance of forgiveness to those who have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. We, as a child of God, can have restored fellowship with God after each sin if we confess our rebellion, if we repent of our seeking after fleshly desires, if we admit our falling into a temptation, and our straying from the path God has set before us. When we confess our sins to our Lord and Savior we not only receive His forgiveness, we also restore our relationship with Him.

 

Is your heart burning from the pain of sins you have committed? Are you depressed and lonely because you have disobeyed God? Are you feeling the weight of sin perched on your shoulders crushing your soul beneath its weight? God is only a prayer away. He waits expectantly with an anxious heart. Tears are welling up in His eyes as he anticipates the possibilities of restoring the relationship between you and your Lord and Master.

 

Don’t wait. Don’t let another day or minute go by living in the burning, scorching hot flames of rebellion and sin. Let Jesus wash you in the living water and extinguish the flames of sin and wash you white as snow. Let the Holy Spirit bathe you in His presence and enable you to feel the refreshing cleansing that comes from knowing the intimacy of the loving Lord Jesus Christ. Let the touch of the Father heal your wounded soul.

 

Ephesians 1:7-8

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”