The thought of payday is always exciting. I remember some of my first paychecks, opening up that envelope and seeing a check made out to my name and realizing that the money was mine. Of course, back then the minimum wage was a scant $3.35 an hour so those paychecks were minuscule at best. But when you you’re young and have no bills or debt, the idea of a paycheck is exciting because it can mostly be spent of fun frivolous stuff. When that paycheck hit on Fridays it was invigorating because it meant fun. But what if I were to say that not all paydays are fun? What if the work your hands produce creates something that pays you back in a way that you would rather not collect on? Friends, so is the wages of sin in your life.
As I talk about sin and the ravages of it, I often field a comment such as, “yeah but…Jesus died for me and all of my sins are covered by His blood on the Cross.” Yes, that last sentence is absolutely 100% theologically and Biblically correct. When anyone admits they are a sinner and ask Jesus to come into their heart, they are saved from their sin and granted eternal life with God in Heaven. (Rom 8:13) As a result of this Salvation experience, any and all sin that they have, or ever will commit, has been wiped away. As you pass from this Earth and arrive in Heaven, all believers will stand before God in judgement. (Rom 14:10–12, 2 Cor 5:10) Instead of God the Father seeing a life that is stained and blemished with sin, He will see a life that has been washed clean by the precious blood of His Son Jesus Christ. But folks, that is judgement day, what about the effects of your sin today?
The radiating power of sin is something that I think few fully understand and grasp. Many people greatly limit the current and future effects that sin can have in their lives. You see, Jesus will save us from our sin as we enter Heaven, but here on this Earth, we must deal with our sin. Sin that destroys. Sin that ravages the life that commits it. Sin that damages the lives around it. Sin that even flows to the descendants of the sinner. You see, sin has a legacy that lives on. In fact, God tells us clearly:
“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me” Exodus 20:4-5
Here God is speaking to the Israelites about the great sin of creating and worshiping false gods and idols. You might say that this idea of false gods and little metal idols being worshiped is outdated and unrelatable to us today in 2020. I say that it has never been more applicable than it is today. You merely need to look around to see that technology and items of comfort and convenience have created an entire world society that worships idols. My favorite definition of an idol is “anything that creates distance between you and God.” The key word is anything. Do you spend more time with God or your cell phone? (a little metal idol) Do you spend more time with God or Netflix? Do you pay more attention to Facebook or God? Do you spend more time praying to God or watching CNN or FOX news? Do you spend more time studying God’s Word or playing Xbox or PS4? Folks, anything that creates distance between you and God can be considered an idol. And God says here that the sins of the father will be passed onto their kids just like the color of their eyes. Parents, this is frightful.
Today in 2 Samuel chapter 13 we see David living in the destructive swath of his sin. He lusted after Bathsheba, took her in adultery and she conceived. He had her husband murdered and tried to cover the whole thing up. But God will not allow sin to be forgotten in the hearts of His children and He sends the prophet Nathan to confront David in his sin. David mans up, suffers the sharp rebuke, and repents of his sin to God. But that is just the start. You see, the verse goes “you reap what you sow.” (Gal 6:7) If you plant a corn seed, you can’t decide after it gets 5 feet tall that you no longer want corn. You made the decision when you planted the corn seed. You are going to get corn no matter what. As much as David regretted His horrid actions, he still did the planting. Now its payday and David is not going to like the paycheck he gets.
Back in 1 Samuel we find David living in self-exile as he is fleeing from the wrath of Saul. As he does, he collects a few wives along the way. One of them is Anihoam of Jezreel. (1 Sam 25:43) She bears him a son, Amnon. He collects another wife , Maacah, who was a princess in Geshur and more than likely a political marriage by David. (2 Sam 3:3) Maacah bears a daughter to David, Tamar, and a son, Absalom. (Are you getting all this?) Well, in a vile, disgusting family scandal, Amnon rapes his half-sister Tamar and then Tamar’s brother Absalom murders his half-brother Amnon for raping his sister. As David receives and deals with this devastating news, I can’t help but think that what was running through his head was God’s Words to him in Nathan’s rebuke.
“Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’” 2 Samuel 12:9-12
You can define sin in many ways. One is “anything you think, say or do that displeases God.” Webster calls sin, “an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law.” But friends, here in this passage God calls sin exactly what it is. And it is brutal to behold. Sin is “despising the Word of the Lord.” Sin is “doing evil in His sight.” Sin is “despising God.” Considering that the definition of despise is “to look down on as worthless, disgusting and repugnant” this is amazingly hard language from God. And God is clear what happens when we recklessly despise Him and His Words and purposefully do evil in His sight. The sword shall not depart from our house. Evil will be allowed into our house. And it will not be in secret as we prefer our sin to be, it will be under the sun, brought to light for all to see. The wages of our sin is a paycheck that none of us want.
Sin is real. The ravages are real. Don’t kid yourself and try to add a weight system to your sin, thinking that some sin is lesser than others. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that some sin despises the Lord less than others. All sin despises the Word of God. All sin mocks God as we think we can get away with it. All sin is doing evil right under the very nose of God as He watches our every move. And all sin carries with it a paycheck that not only affects the sinner but those around the sinner. We will see in later chapters that just as God promised, the sin of David flowed to his family. It affected David and Bathsheba’s son, Amnon, Tamar, Absalom and Adonijah. The sword shall be upon his house as pay for his despising the Lord.
Today, I pray that the cost of sin is real to you. That you flee from it as if it were death itself. For yes, the blood of Jesus can save you from the death of sin in eternity, but in this life, it will cost you as much as it cost David.
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