What Lies Underneath?
By: Kristen L. McNulty
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Nome, Alaska, on the edge of the Bering Sea, is like many villages of the Arctic. The ground on which the community sits is frozen. If you visit Nome in summer you’ll see front yards full of broken washing machines, junked cars, old toilets, scrap wood, and piles of non-degradable waste.
Tourists who visit Nome in the summer are amazed at the debris and shake their heads. How could anyone live like that, they wonder. What those visitors do not realize is that for nine months of the year Nome sits under a blanket of snow that covers the garbage. During those months, the little town is a quaint winter wonderland of pure white landscapes.
Looks can be deceiving. For most of the year anyone visiting Nome would never suspect that underneath all of that beauty could be that much junk. And that couldn’t be a more accurate picture of what sin looks like.
Let’s face it, if sin didn’t look appealing, we wouldn’t be so tempted to partake in it. But sin often does look good on the surface. Think about it. Most sins, from lying to sexual sin to even stealing looks appealing for one reason or another. Why? Because it brings us some benefit. Whether that benefit is avoiding the consequence of the truth or even just momentary pleasure, sin does bring us something that we deep down want to have.
But there is a nasty reality to the pleasures of sin that sometimes only surfaces much later. Just like the town of Nome, while sin may look appealing, sooner or later things begin to surface that are not only plain ugly, but damaging as well.
Sin has consequences- it’s a natural reality of life. Satan would love for us to believe that we can sin all we want and it won’t do anything to us, but is a lie straight from the mouth of the enemy. Sin hurts. Sin destroys. Sin separates us from God.
That is why God over and over again in His Word warns us about sin. God doesn’t classify things as sin just so that He can control our lives, but rather because He knows the effects that certain things have on our lives.
He knows that behind the appeal of sin, there are really ugly consequences and that is why He warns us to stay away from sin. God is a God of love and He wants only the best for His children.
Maybe today you realize that you’ve been caught up in sin and you want to find your way out. If so, I applaud you for that decision and allow me to encourage you- it is more than possible.
God knows the temptations that we face here and now and He has promised in His Word, to give us the help we need, when we need it.
As 1 Corinthians 10:13 says:
"But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can't stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it."
This devotional was aired as a part of the Making A Difference Christian Radio Show.