Allergic To What?

Allergic to What?

Bible Blast: Read Galatians 5:19-25

Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. Romans 8:5

Per Segerback is one of 250,000 people in Sweden who are diagnosed with something called electro-hypersensitivity (EHS). Basically this means they’re somewhat “allergic” to all the radiation that comes from the use of such everyday tools as cell phones. Per actually gets sick when a cell phone rings near him. People with EHS say their symptoms include dizziness, stomachaches, weird feelings in their skin, and shortness of breath. Per’s problem is so bad that he has had to move to a cabin out in the woods away from technology to keep healthy.

Per’s allergy got me thinking about sin. What if every time you got close to sin you felt physically sick? Can you imagine what it would be like if someone told a lie near you and you would have to grab your stomach and head for the bathroom? Or if you disrespected your parents, you got red blotches all over your skin? Or how about if someone stole something, you suddenly passed out? Bizarre!

Maybe we should have some sort of “sin-hypersensitivity” (SHS). I’m not saying I want to “toss my cookies” every time someone does something bad, but I think it would be good if sin made me really, really uncomfortable. The more I grow in my relationship with Jesus, the yuckier I do feel in sinful situations, and that’s good. But there are times when I let sin slip on by without its bothering me at all.

Here’s the catch. Even though we’re supposed to hate evil and cling to what is good (see Romans 12:9), God doesn’t want us to remove ourselves entirely from the world, like Per Segerback has had to do. We would have an awfully hard time seasoning the world with the message of the gospel if we lived an entirely separated life from those who need to hear the gospel.

Yes, we need to hate sin and evil. But, no, we can’t just completely cut ourselves off from the lost. If we don’t tell them about Jesus, who will?

Girl Gab: Imagine what life would be like if you had SHS (sin-hypersensitivity). No one would be able to hide sin anymore, would they? Ask God to help you be totally uncool with sin and evil.