The Consequences of Sin

By Andrew Beasley        I am sure that most can relate to the feeling in the pit of your stomach that arises when you are driving down the road and maybe you have not checked your speedometer or paid close enough attention to it, at least not until you zip past a police officer and see them pull out behind you a few moments later. There is a sense of unease as you look in your review mirror as you wait for those flashing blue and red lights to turn on. In the same moment you likely find yourself glancing to make sure your speed had dropped to where it always should have been.      Those feelings of anxiousness are likely undergirded by guilt, or potential guilt, at the fact that maybe you did break the law and are going to be facing the consequences of doing so. There is never anything pleasant about being disciplined or punished. In the case of speeding the end result may be a hefty fine depending on how fast one was going, and the annoyance of increased car insurance because of the mark against your record.      If only the world, and in many ways Christians, had the same fear of the consequences of sin. The truth of the matter is that with many crimes committed against human governments, the criminal can get away with their wrong doing if they are careful enough not to get caught. With spiritual crimes there is no escaping the governing authority that is God. There is nothing that escapes the view of a being so great that He is aware of even the number of hairs growing on each one of our heads (Luke 12:7).      As Christians we should always be working to make sure no one is facing the flashing lights of God’s judgment on that great day.

- Andrew Beasley serves as a minister with the Northwest Church of Christ in Greensboro, NC. He may be contacted through the congregation's website: https://nwchurchofchrist.com/about/