Looks Good, Doesn't It?

See this brownie?  It looks good, doesn't it?  Well, it isn't.  In fact, it's horrible!  At first, if you were to bite into this brownie, it would seem okay, but then you would begin to taste the flavors and find that something is definitely wrong.  I'm not sure what went wrong.  My daughter made a double batch of them and apparently messed up somehow.  We think she may have put too much baking powder.  But, at first glance, the brownie looks good.

Isn't sin this same way?  Some things that are sinful - at first glance - seem appealing.  If they weren't appealing, we wouldn't sin or be tempted to sin, would we?  But, just like this brownie looks appealing and might taste okay right at first, as it stays in the mouth for a little while, it gets worse.  Sin might not seem too bad at first.  We might think we're "okay" because it's just once...or just a few times....or just ever so often.  But, little by little that sin can destroy us.  Even the first time we sin it seperates us from God, but to continually do it over and over puts us further and further from Him.

Although only a few of these brownies were ever taken from the pan, I had to throw away the whole batch.  I knew that because those few brownies tasted bad, the whole batch was bad.  We must do the same in our lives...get rid of all sin.  We can't keep some sin in our lives and get rid of others.  No sin can be hidden from God.

But now my brownie pan is clean and no more of the "bad" remains.  It's the same way when we confess our sins to God.  He wipes the slate clean.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9

Thank you, God, for your unconditional love for us and your willingness to for our sins when we repent.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen