Have you ever stepped in dog poop?
When I ask people this question I am shocked but to date everyone has said “YES!” I am sure that there are some people that have not but the fact remains that most people have stepped into dog poop. The reason for asking the question is that it really sort of illustrates the following passage:
Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master. (Romans 6:23)
I can tell you when I have worked hard for sin and then suffer it is like stepping into dog poop and trying to get it off of my shoe. The interesting thing is that when I try not to sin and seek God on a day to day basis I find that when I do have problems they are easier to deal with.
If you believe in God or not, you will always have problems. It seems that sin is like a self-induced problem though. But trying not to sin is just problems that you have zero control over.
Some examples:
If I show anger toward another person and then try to repair it rather than if I didn’t have anger toward someone, it might not have been like trying to get something off of my shoe.
Or what about something like cancer. This could happen no matter what you believe in, but knowing that you have hope in a God that will take care of you no matter if you are going to die or not, is a place much different than dealing with complete despair without any hope. Either way these things are difficult but as the passage states why work for it?
Go and sin no more and enjoy the saving power of Jesus Christ! (John 8:10-11)