Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Got any idea what that is? I’ll give you 2 guesses. Nope? Leprosy. I’m guessing your first response is ewww, gross. And you would be right. Leprosy is a tough disease. It’s tough to think about, tough to read about, tough to visualize and of course in a very understated way, tough to have and endure. But sometimes in life you have to not only look at the tough things, you have to focus and study them. That’s the case today as we delve into Leviticus chapter 13.
It’s a long chapter, dealing with leprosy was complicated and required much in its treatment. But this morning we’ll not focus so much on the physical disease and its effects on the physical flesh, but the effects of sin and its cause, our spiritual flesh. You see, in God’s Word the disease of leprosy was a symbol of the manifestation of sin in a person’s heart. Leprosy mirrored the effects of sin within a heart as it then radiated out into an entire life. As I read through the chapter this morning several things jumped out. Let’s take a look at the importance of examining our flesh in order to avoid the disease of a sin-filled life.
1) You must deal with sin. As that first red leprous bump popped up on your skin, you had a choice. Go see the priest for a diagnosis or…ignore it. Either reaction had no effect on the outcome, it’s still leprosy, but how you handle it makes all the difference. As you ignore it and hope for the best, it spreads into the death dealing disease that it is. In the same way, you can’t ignore sin in your life. If you do, it will only grow into a joy draining, peace stealing disease that will eventually rob you of the abundant life that Jesus came to offer you. If you have sin in your life deal with it…today. Go to your knees and confess your sin openly and honestly to God. Fiercely protect your fellowship with His Holy Spirit, don’t let even one spot of sin start spreading into a deadly disease in your life.
2) Sin begins small. Throughout chapter 13 you see that the people would come before the priests with one small spot. But the disease, if not cured by God, would do one thing and one thing only…spread. It would spread and grow throughout the body until it resulted in rotten flesh and lost limbs. You see satan lies to us and tells us, it’s just one little sin. It's only one transgression against God. Or maybe he whispers that’s it’s a “private sin” and since nobody will know about it, we’ll skate by with it. Folks, sin is sin and it always starts out small, but then it spreads quickly. You will find yourself growing ever tolerant of just one more little sin. You must train yourself to see sin as God sees sin…an act that if not covered by the blood of Jesus, can take you to an eternity separated from God…Hell.
3) Sin will spread. You could get leprosy and then hope for the best. Good luck with that. We see all over chapter 13 that once that first spot appeared you only had to wait. The leprosy would spread, that’s a guarantee. I mean, that’s what leprosy does. Folks, sin will spread into all areas of your life, that’s what sin does. You might think you can compartmentalize it and control it, good luck with that. If you let one spot of sin into your life, it will spread. Don’t try fighting sin by a psychological use of compartmentalization or limitation, instead avoid it completely. Fight it fiercely. Pray for God to create in you a pure heart today. Then throughout the day keep on in that same vein of prayer and as you experience temptation ask Him to now protect that clean heart He gave you. You can’t successfully fight this fight, but good news, you don’t have to. If you have called upon Jesus, you have the very Holy Spirit of God living within you, use Him. He fights a lot better than you.
Also don’t miss the fact that your sin can spread to others. Leprosy was an aggressively contagious disease and you could easily and quickly give it to others, infecting their lives forever. Your “right” to sin is not personal. It can and will affect all those in your life. The only way to not spread your disease to others? Don’t get the disease.
4) Sin is bearable. The odd thing about leprosy was that it wasn’t a high pain disease. It didn’t produce sharp and unbearable pain like a myriad of other diseases. You see leprosy kept its victims in a condemned, sad, restless bondage. The parallel to sin here is alarming. I watched a video the other day about an 8 year old kid that stole his mom’s car and crashed it into another car. When the camera crews showed up, they got some priceless video of the kid. They asked him why he did it and without hesitation he said, “it’s fun to do bad things.” Folks, if your honest, sin is fun. In the moment, satisfying our flesh and doing the bad thing, seems fun. It’s not until later that the problems arise. You see, to continue to ride that high, you gotta keep sinning. Sin is no different than any other addictive drug, it will keep you happy and high as long as you don’t stop. You see, we can get to a point in our lives where we become “comfortably numb” to our sin. We are living a life that does not incur sharp, unbearable pain, but instead sin has caused us an existence of bearable sadness. A disenfranchised restlessness that steals from us. It steals our joy, it steals our freedom, and it steals our peace. Jesus came not to just give us life but give it to us in abundance. And a life lived in bondage to sin cannot have the abundant life of Jesus.
5) Sin separates. As the person with leprosy was finally deemed to be unclean by the priest’s diagnosis, now came the final sad part, separation. The disease had now spread to the point of full contamination to others and the diseased individual had to be removed from civilization. Removed from all human contact and yes, even from being able to enter the tabernacle. Their disease eventually separated them even from God. Folks one of the damaging, destructive affects of sin is that of separation. You’ve probably seen it in your life and the lives of those around you. The sin of adultery separates marriages. The sin of addiction separates families. The sin of pride separates fathers from sons and mothers from daughters. What God intends to be unified and harmonious, sin will separate. And folks, the one analogy here that should send shivers down your spine, sin can separate you from a God that loves you. From a God that out of His amazing grace and mercy, sent His only Son to die for you. But the sin of pride keeps millions today from turning to Him. The sin of arrogance keeps people living in a foul fog of existence, oblivious to the salvation of Jesus Christ.
Sin demands attention. Deal with it today. Sin will begin small, tricking you into thinking you’ve got control, but don’t be tricked, it will grow into a life threatening disease. Sin will spread into every facet of your life if you let it. Control it before it spreads. Sin will appear bearable and manageable in your life as it slowly and stealthily locks rusty shackles around your ankles. Don’t be in its bondage. And folks sin separates. It can and will separate you from your spouse, family, friends, church, and yes, even God.
Folks above all else today, fiercely protect your heart from sin. Because if you are suffering from the deadly disease of sin, you can help no one else until you’re better.
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Proverbs 4:23
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