Sin

I think policeman hate crime.
I think firefighters hate fires that destroy.
I think doctors hate disease.

And I kNOW pastors hate sin.

I am a pastor. And the longer I have been a pastor, the more I have come to hate sin.
I hate sin. The reason I hate it is because,, I spend more time than others in the midst of the damning effects that sin has in the lives of others.

The Bible says the wages of sin is death.
But, one does not have to wait for death to feel the effects of sin.
Sin kills slowly, entering in through any small opening we give it. Like an ever ravenous cancer it slowly drains all joy and pleasure out of life.

I sit in the midst of the nuclear fallout of sin on a regular basis. If that was the only place I sat, I would be in constant despair.
But, my life is balanced out by also sitting in the presence of God.

The following keep me from falling over the pit:

Regular meditation on the character of God.
Reading the Psalms.
Silence.
Watching my children at play.
A walk through the woods.

And ultimately I adhere myself to the reality that "The Son of Man was revealed for this purpose
TO DESTROY THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL"

I live in that reality - someday all this evil, all this sin will be rubble in the textbook of history.

All the sin, all the pain, all the tears will come to an end.

And until that day, my hatred for sin will continue unabated.