The Lasting Effects of Sin
Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. —1 Peter 2:11
I once read a strange story in the news about a plumber who was called in to unclog a drain. He had one of those snake-like devices that runs down into a drain and keeps running until the drain is cleaned out. But this time, the "snake" did a strange thing. It went outside of the house through an open vent and into the house next door. Then it went down through a vent, came out, and grabbed a ten-year-old girl who was playing in her backyard. Fortunately, her little brother cried started crying, and they stopped. The fire department had to use cable cutters to set the girl free.
After reading that story, I thought about how sin can be that way. You never know where it's going to go. When we commit a sinful act, we don't realize the repercussions that can take place and the other lives that can be impacted by it.
Billy Graham once said, "Immorality is an epidemic in our churches just as it is in the secular world at large. . . . No wonder the world is in crisis."
God has a lot to say about immorality, and specifically adultery, in Scripture. It made His Top Ten list, the Ten Commandments. It was, in some cases, punishable by death. And we see it addressed in the New Testament as well.
God has told us not to commit adultery for good reason. When you cross that line of protection that God has placed around your and your spouse's life, you do so at your own peril. And the repercussions of that sin can last for months, years, and yes, even a lifetime.
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