The wages of sin are death - but too often, those wages aren't paid by the sinner. Those wages are paid by the innocent. They are paid by the children who go hungry while their parents feed a cigarette, alcohol, or drug addiction. They are paid by the person from whom you stole something. They are paid for by the hard workers who pay higher prices at the store and are denied raises because you decided to shoplift. They are paid for by the person you killed because you decided to drive drunk or high. The truth is that all sin has a price tag attached to it, and more often than not, you aren't the one who pays the highest price for it.
We are paying a fairly high price for the sin of someone who stole our van. Not only have we had to walk everywhere - which might not be so bad if not for my husband's back problems, but we are also going to have to pay at least $170 to get the van out of the impound (that's the towing fee plus a $35 storage fee per day). We wrote yesterday about the other consequences to this theft, but it looks like we might be able to get a little more time to get everything under control.
The other group that ended up paying for this sin is my 5th grade catechism class. In that van was my teacher bag which had all of their journals from the beginning of the year, containing all of their prayers. It saddened me to have to tell them that someone had stolen them and it might be a while before we were able to get them back. I had them pray for the soul of the person who stole it, but I could tell it was hard for them to understand why they were praying for someone who had stolen stuff.
The truth is that it is always the innocent who pay the highest price for our sins. It was true for Christ, and it is true for the baby who gets aborted because of the parents' sins. It is true for you, and true for me. This is why we must strive to avoid sin at all cost, and - when we become aware of our sins - to confess them and correct them as soon as possible. This too is why no sin is ever just between me and God. It is always something that impacts the lives of others.
We are paying a fairly high price for the sin of someone who stole our van. Not only have we had to walk everywhere - which might not be so bad if not for my husband's back problems, but we are also going to have to pay at least $170 to get the van out of the impound (that's the towing fee plus a $35 storage fee per day). We wrote yesterday about the other consequences to this theft, but it looks like we might be able to get a little more time to get everything under control.
The other group that ended up paying for this sin is my 5th grade catechism class. In that van was my teacher bag which had all of their journals from the beginning of the year, containing all of their prayers. It saddened me to have to tell them that someone had stolen them and it might be a while before we were able to get them back. I had them pray for the soul of the person who stole it, but I could tell it was hard for them to understand why they were praying for someone who had stolen stuff.
The truth is that it is always the innocent who pay the highest price for our sins. It was true for Christ, and it is true for the baby who gets aborted because of the parents' sins. It is true for you, and true for me. This is why we must strive to avoid sin at all cost, and - when we become aware of our sins - to confess them and correct them as soon as possible. This too is why no sin is ever just between me and God. It is always something that impacts the lives of others.
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