I had a hernia surgically repaired twenty years ago, when I was 13 years old. After the surgery, the surgeon told me two things that I still remember to this day. First, he said that I had probably had the hernia since I was 3. He also stated that I was likely to develop another hernia in the years to come.
So, here I am, at the age of 33 facing the news of a second hernia. It could be much worse. And while a hernia repair is a fairly routine, outpatient surgery, the news still came as quite a shock during my recent physical.
The doctor asked me if I had dealt with any pain from the hernia and, of course, I said "no". I had no idea that I had a hernia!
However, since receiving the news, I can't stop thinking about my hernia. And, I am feeling the pain quite regularly and severely.
Tonight, as I sat dealing with some sharp pains, I thought of how similar this situation is to our sin.
There was a time in each of our lives that we were unaware of our sin problem. We had no idea that our sin was keeping us separated from the God that created us and loves us.
But once our sin problem was brought to our attention, we began to deal with our reality. We were plagued by the nuisance of our sin problem and painful consequences that our sin problem posed for our lives - now and forever.
In the same way, once our sin problem has been exposed - once we are diagnosed as sinners in need of salvation through Jesus Christ - we have a choice. We can accept His gracious gift of salvation right away and be free of our guilt, our shame, and the eternal consequences of our sin problem. Or we can continue to deal with the reality of our sin problem and refuse to free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. Of course, there is always the risk of waiting to long.
And while gangrene is a horrible consequence, eternal separation from
God is much worse - and irreversible.
So, in view of your sin problem, what will you do?
