Of Sin and Song… Wait, What?

I am a music junkie. I can’t explain it, it just speaks to my soul and resonates in my brain. Music is the perfect marriage of melody and poetry and for me that’s pretty fantastic.

Today I downloaded some pretty fancy Jesus Beats. One of the verses went like this… (you can listen here)

“You and Eve took a token from the apple tree. I just don’t think that you’re gunna see where it’s gunna hurt you most.”

I heard it as I was driving and I literally pulled my car over so I could replay it. I couldn’t believe how deeply it was relating to something I am going through. Right now in my life I am feeling the consequences of an old sin. A sin that at the time, I didn’t know was a sin, or maybe rather, I didn’t care that I was sinning. Something that at the time I never really thought would hurt me or anyone around me. Isn’t it crazy how sin does that? It’s sneaky like that. It comes off all enticing and alluring and leaves your life in shambles.

The song, “Adam” hit me so hard because it embodies everything that sin does… At least how it works in my life. Sin comes across as a “token”. It reminded me of when I was little, I would get these shiney gold tokens at the local arcade and I would love them and use them and all I would get back was junk. Dollar store junk. I would spend so much money on tokens to win tickets that would get me junk that I ended up tossing the very next week.

Adam took the “token” from the Tree of Life and never realized how deeply that action was going to affect not only he and Eve, but the rest of humanity for the History of Ever. He never saw what he was losing in the process of indulging in his sin. That’s where I am. I’m sitting with the consequences of a sin that has long since gone away. The consequences sit there and they fill the room with the stench of rot and decay. The consequences stifle the breath in my chest and they suck the joy from parts of my life.

I think Roger Archer said it best:

“Sin keeps you longer than you want to stay. Takes you farther than you want to go. Costs you more than you would ever pay.”

Here’s the silver-lining though. Even when I feel overwhelmed by the consequences of my actions, I call out to Christ and he redeems me with Grace. He drenches the fire of sin with his mercy, grace and forgiveness. It doesn’t mean there aren’t ashes to clean up or raging embers to let cool down. It does mean he extinguished the flame of sin.

In the midst of consequences from actions that I thought were a good idea at the time, I am so thankful that I have Christ.

My Redeemer.

The Keeper of My Soul.

I am so far beyond perfection, yet he loves me.

While I wait for the consequences to heal, I fix my eyes on the One who fixes everything.

…And all is well with my soul.