Sin can be a very seductive thing. We like to flirt with it, play with it, try it on but at the same time justify it just enough to distance ourselves from it. The instant gratification of sin is very intoxicating. Unfortunately, we are often blinded to what our sin really costs us. We begin to justify the things we do to make ourselves feel that we really are not that bad. The problem is that we begin to look a lot like some biblical characters that we should not want to emulate-the Pharisees.

In chapters 11 and 12 of the book of John, these Pharisees and chief priests give us a perfect illustration of what unchecked sin can do in our lives. In chapter 11, Chaiaphas (the high priest) says that they should kill Jesus because it would be better to kill one person than allow a whole nation to perish because of that one person. He allowed justification to blind him to the truth of what he was proposing.

How many times have you told a lie and then to keep that lie viable, you had to tell another lie to keep it covered? The problem with this is that sooner or later the lies become too great and numerous to keep track of and our world comes crashing in around us. Sin will grow if we let it. It is like a plant-the more that we water it with sin the easier it becomes to accept it and to allow it to grow into something that, eventually, we will not be able to control. The Pharisees were allowing this process to take hold as they began to water their sin in the very next chapter. As a result of Christ raising Lazarus from the dead, many of the Jews were looking to Jesus as the Messiah. So the chief priests decide that Lazarus should also die.

The illustration here is that sin unchecked will grow into something bigger than you intended. Sin is never as simple as it seems and it will always grow, and quickly at that, if allowed to. Ask yourselves this; what sin in my life am I allowing to grow into an uncontrollable state? What sin am I watering with my own personal justification? Is there sin that I have allowed to take over my life so completely that I have dismissed or ignored the damage it has done or will do to my family and friends, not to mention myself?

We need to treat our lives like gardens, taking time to uproot and weed out the sin that would threaten to overtake us. The bible says that we are not to let the devil have a foothold in our lives and in order to do that we have to deal drastically with sin when it creeps in. To let sin remain unchecked is what gives him that foothold. Take a moment right now to evaluate if you need to do some weeding in your life. Get rid of all the distractions right now in your life and give this some serious thought-give it your all. Let Christ know that you need His help and ask for the forgiveness that only He can give. Let Him come into your life and help you clean the weeds of sin out of your life. He truly is as close as the mention of His name.

Final Thought: Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and cost you more than you want to pay.