Good Friday morning! Whew, it's good to keep a spare keyboard handy; I got nothin' on my regular PC keyboard when I started typing this morning. I blame it on the cold outside! We had one whole degree when I got up this morning. Yikes! Even the cats are semi-hibernating these days. The weatherman said we can expect 1 1/2 to 2 weeks more of this too! Looks like a good time to get on that winterizing that I've been putting off. My lack of action in one area has hurt me in another.
A private sin, the ones we think no one saw or got hurt by, is like a boy sitting beside a still pond. The boy sees no one along the shores, and thinking that no one will be hurt, he tosses a big rock into the pond. He may be right in the physical sense; no one else is there and the ripples spreading out from the splash only bounce back from the sides of the pond. However, like our private little sin, God is there and He does see the ripples. God may even feel them in His Creation. We might think that no one has been hurt by our private sin, but we are wrong. God is hurt and disappointed in us.
We also may not see all of the aftereffects of that sin. We may act differently, our testimony may be hurt by the knowledge of that sin, we may treat others differently because of the rotting effect in us of that sin. Imagine that besides God, all along the edge of that pond are legions of little lives that we cannot see because we think we are alone. The rock we throw that is our private sin does far more damage than we can see or realize. That is why God says "don't" or if you prefer the King James version, "thou shalt not!" One of the easiest rationalizations to make in falling for a temptation is that it won't hurt anyone else. That's a lie, and I have fallen for it, more than likely you have too. Kind of a heavy load to lay on you for a Friday morning, but next time we face that private temptation, we should think of those ripples spreading out from that point of sin.
Have a wonderful, if cold, day in Christ Jesus!
Bucky
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