Farther than you want to Go

If life was a garden,

then sin is the army of slugs that eat your tomatoes.

If life was a body,

then sin is an untreated disease that poisons and slowly kills you.

If life was a river,

then sin is arsenic that pollutes it.

If life was a computer,

then sin is a virus that destroys your hard drive.

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Sin has been around since the Beginning.

Sin is a part of life, although it brings the exact opposite of life.

Sin means eventual death.

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"...Sin will take you farther than you want to go,

Slowly but wholly taking control.

Sin will leave you longer than you want to stay.

Sin will cost you far more than you want to pay..."

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The quote above is a chorus from a song that my family sang when I was growing up by the Cathedral Quartet, it was called,

"Sin will take You Farther".

I heard it again today after a few years,

and I decided to write about the amazing convicting message

that this song shares.

I hope that you'll listen to it after reading my thoughts and

maybe it will encourage you just as much as it did me!

The lead singer tells how he had grown up in church his entire life and knew how to fake being a Christian.

He knew what to say, when to say it, how to act and where to be, but none of it was genuine. Outwardly, he looked good, inwardly he was hiding all his secret sins. He would watch the Christians around him who displayed signs of consistent real Christianity and eventually he came to the point where he finally surrendered his life to God.

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Sin has a way of making you comfortable with yourself, content where you are with no desire

to live in purity and communion with God.

It convinces you that you're the one in charge and that you can handle it without letting things get out of control.

Sin tells you that if you keep it a secret that it's harmless.

It tells you that the only way that you will be satisfied is if you give in to its temptations.

After it has reeled you in and pulled the hook,

it tells you that you're hopeless and it owns you.

It promises happiness,

but always fails to deliver that fully,

resulting in pain, guilt and shame,

for yourself and your loved ones.

Inevitably using your fall to shame the Gospel, damaging your reputation as a Christian.

Sin can also damage our relationship with God.

"if I cherish iniquity in my heart, the Lord [will] not ...listen” (Ps. 66:18)

While our lives may look good to those around us, the hidden secret sins are even more detrimental to our Christianity. We learn to live in such a way that our inward sins become part of who we are.

Sin blocks prayers, separating you from God's holiness, creating a "lukewarm" Christianity. We begin to live in a state where we're saved, but we can't get anywhere with God because we're so bogged down by sin and it's hold on us.

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God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7)

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Sins that are commonly hidden are things that we believe do not affect others and sins that often go unnoticed by everyone, including ourselves! Un-forgiveness, jealousy, lust, pride, hate, selfishness, laziness, bitterness, deceit...

the list goes on and on...

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As the song says, sin will take you farther than you want to go, it will slowly tempt you to the point where you feel like you are completely drowning in sinful misery, it will suck you dry of all your joy and contentment, and then it will leave you stranded. This song reminds me that no matter how far sin drags you, no matter how deep you sink...Jesus can pull you back.

He said that, "Whosoever will may come..."

He also says that, "Nothing is Impossible with God."

He owns the cattle on a thousand hills.

He turned water into wine.

He fed the five thousand.

He called demons out of people.

He made the blind see, the lame walk, the deaf to hear again. Who can do anything?

Nobody, but MY Lord!

Take a minute today and ask for His help in your life,

ask for His forgiveness, His deliverance, His restoration,

His joy, peace and contentment.

Take a minute and listen to this powerful song,

reminding yourself of how dangerously easy it is to fall for the temptations that we are faced with daily.

- Mark Trammell, "Sin Will Take You Farther" -