Sin has a shocking attractiveness. I have spoken about this in The Exhausted Addict 6 of 8. I confess I have often found sin so attractive that I have become emotionally consumed with it. It is a love affair, and to face that sin with the intention of hacking it to death is like murdering a dear lover. The path of personal holiness demands that you look at the dear object of your most passionate lusts and resolve, by the grace of God and the power of His Spirit, to take up the job of executioner.

As we continue to think about the eternal pleasures at the right hand of God, none of us can claim to have only those pleasures filling our hearts and minds all the time. In fact, it is in confronting this fact that I have thought so intently on Hebrews 11:25. There is a world of contrast in that verse; two opposing world-views that are at the heart of your and my struggle against sin today. Notice that Moses faced the option to enjoy the pleasures of sin.

The Bible is far more radical in the way it speaks about sin than some of us are willing to be. We are able to speak about sin, yet in a “sanctified, churchified” way. Especially among more conservative Christians, one would create shock waves if he began to discuss that he finds pleasure in sin and that it is enjoyable. The Bible is not as conservative as we like to be. Young people are dying in conservative churches because they are unspeakably attracted toward sin, yet the church is unwilling to honestly face the fact that the attraction is real because sin really is enjoyable and it does bring pleasure.

Do you, like me, struggle to honestly confess that there are times when you are more drawn to the perfume, the seduction and the desirable figure of your sin than you are drawn to your God? Do you also yearn for a more open relationship with other Christians where you are able to share your struggles with them and encourage one another in this battle?

I would like to continue with this next time, but let me share an incident that happened to me. I was speaking to a brother in Christ after a service. Other conservative believers were crowding around. I was so gripped by the battle against sin on that morning that I was describing it to this brother as a war. As I grappled for words, I said quite loudly and passionately, “It’s a bloody battle!” (Meaning of course, it is a gory battle, marked by bloody slaughter). In an instant, the whole crowd fell deathly silent and they were staring at me. The word “bloody” is considered a vulgar curse word. It came out all wrong.