Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. – Psalm 37:5-6 Could you imagine living in a country during an epidemic that killed at least one-third of the population? This didn’t just happen to one country, but an entire continent. No, I’m not talking about an NBC show! In the 14th century, the Black Plague swept across Europe killing millions of people. Historians believe this may have totaled up to two-thirds of the world’s population. If that situation sounds bad, we’re all actually in a worse one. The sad thing is that we just may not be aware of it. We are all infected with a deadly disease that will ultimately take our lives. This disease is called sin. This pandemic will not only claim our physical lives, but will also doom us in eternity if we don’t receive the cure. Before you crazy non-religious people start emailing me about how my hypocritical life is different and apart from your own, let me tell you why Biblical sin is a disease. (When i talk about sin, i’m not talking about violations against moral platitudes). Sin is a disease because when you get infected with sin, you don’t become better by abstaining from it. In fact sin grows and starts to infect other parts of your life. The “cure,” if sin is a disease, is then a matter of “trust.” The Psalmist understands that. However, if you read the rest of this Psalm, he knows that with “trust” comes a burning sensation that makes a way for the future. In fact, trusting God hurts like a third degree burn. That’s the only way it works. The reason it hurts like a burn is because the disease of sin is so deeply rooted in our personas that to trust in anything outside of ourselves in our own sin is like setting it to fire. It makes us hot, then sweat, and after a while, trusting God burns away all the layers of gunk that wouldn’t come off naturally. Back to the plague: in 1666, the Great Fire of London wiped out the homes of 70,000 people. While that may only amount to a city block in New York, that was a lot of the city back in those days. It is said that the fire was so hot that it incinerated everything — even on the outskirts of the city. Nothing was recognizable. This fire stopped the plague that went on for 300 years by killing off the diseased fleas, rats, and people that carried the plague. It took a greater death of fire to stop the death of the disease. Likewise, it takes the death of Jesus Christ to overcome the death of sin. We’ll all continue to struggle with sin, but the power of the cross of Jesus is far greater than the power of sin itself. Trusting in God despite how much it burns as the sin is coming off of us makes our lives that much clearer. The Psalmist says that our vindication will be like the noon skies if we commit to this. Let’s commit to God and bring on a new season of growth and warmth.
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