I hate the sin in my life. It’s disgusting to me. It’s horrible. Every glance I take at it makes me cringe. Every thought of it makes me groan. Yet I go back to it regularly, like a dog to its vomit. How can something so gross be so luring? It’s due to perspective. A hearty meal on a full stomach is repugnant, but a hearty meal on an empty stomach is a delight. When I see my sin in all of its true colors, that’s when it’s ugly. It’s the opposite of a masterpiece of art. The more clearly you see a piece of art, the more beauty you recognize. But for sin, the clearer you see it, the more ugliness you see. The artwork was always beautiful, so sin was always hideous, but it goes back to my perspective. So then there must be something blurring my view of sin, for if I always saw it in its natural state, I’d love to say that I’d stay away. The problem is my desires. Not that my desires are always wrong, they’re not. But the means to satisfy my desires is where things goes off the rails.
James 1:14-15 says, “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” (ESV)
My desire for security, comfort, control, and happiness are strong, and I’m always trying to find a way to gratify them. All of a sudden, temptation comes right on time, like an actor ready for his next scene. And temptation pulls at the strings of my desires, trying to lure me into its grasp. Temptation blurs my vision and tells me how amazing sin is. Like a good salesman, temptation can make sin look like the best thing since sliced bread. And I’m duped again and again into thinking it can satisfy because it looks so good, it looks so promising, and it looks so enticing.
So then what’s the solution to my perspective problem? How can I get back to the perspective that sees sin as the monster that it truly is? I must look at what sin wants to do. Sin wants to kill me for “when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:15a), but my loving, unchangeable Father wants to give me good gifts because “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” (James 1:18a). God will never tempt me, and He wants to give me good gifts. But sin will always want to tempt me, and wants to ruin my life. And if you think about it that way, the choice becomes obvious.
When you’re looking at people from 1,000 feet in the air, you can’t tell the difference between each individual, but when you get closer – you can see perfectly who is who. So when it comes to sin, look closer, for you will see that it’s atrocious and it’s ready to wreck you. And when it comes to God, look closer, for you will see that He’s glorious and He’s ready to give you wisdom.
Portraits of Grace 