Sin Is Like a Rock

Carol McClain      @carol_mcclain

The elders in my daughter’s church handed out rocks.

These weren’t pretty, soothing objects like worry rocks or quartz or painted ones with happy messages or water-smoothed pebbles. Each was large enough to hold but oddly shaped and rough. The pastor instructed us to hold the stone throughout the service.

Being the obsessively dutiful woman I am, I held this rough, craggy rock.

What a pain in the palm!

Throughout worship and the lifting of hands, all during the sermon and flipping Bible pages, this unwieldy thing distracted me. I could hold it and could lift it or work my way around it. However, for 90 minutes, it made its presence known.

At last, with the closing song, he allowed us to lay the stone on the altar.

SIN IS LIKE THIS ROCK.

  1. It’s uncomfortable and unwieldy.
  2. It makes its presence known.
  3. It isn’t pretty.
  4. It has no value.
  5. It’s a relief to lay it down at the altar. (and so very easy–try it)

To simply be sorry for doing wrong isn’t enough to change our lives and make living easier or our relationship with God stronger. We have to lay the sin down. Quit doing it. Change.

It’s hard, but we know all things are possible with God. (Matt. 19:26)

Quotes

(I found the following quotes at: https://biblereasons.com/turn-from-sin/ They show us the urgency of laying down our sin.)

  • “By delay of repentance, sin strengthens, and the heart hardens. The longer ice freezeth, the harder it is to be broken.”  Thomas Watson
  • “God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but He has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination.”
    – Augustine
  • “We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.”
    C.S. Lewis

1 Comment

  1. Debra W Jenkins says:

    What a wonderful message.

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