The Drain Of Sin

Can joy be found in a heart burdened with the search for the false joys of pleasure and comfort? Happiness is never found in sin. Sin leads to enslavement, emptiness, and pain. The search for joy must rise above the quest for comforting pain-killers.

"So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." (Romans 6.11-14)

Saccharine

The saccharines of sin entice
The heart to abdicate its place;
Against the conscience's advice,
The heart consents to fall from grace.

The temptations of vanity --
Of pride in one's own means and ways --
Supplants joy with idolatry,
And offerings of selfish praise.

The temptations of gluttony,
A tyranny of wanton need,
Consumes the heart relentlessly --
Joy is displaced by zealous greed.

The heart which harbours hard feelings
Of judgements, jealousy, and lust,
Denies pure love in its dealings --
And drains their neighbor's joy and trust.

Sin, with its consequence, destroys
The heart's true fulfillment and joys.

"Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness' sake, O Lord! ... Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins." (Psalm 25.7,18)

Lord, open my heart to know the truth of sin in my life. Have mercy on me and purify me, that I may be prepared to share in Your joy. Amen.