By Jon
“But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
James 1:14 – 15
In front of our house at Lopburi there is a big frangipani tree. The tree produces big bunches of white flowers, with some even being pink or orange. Beautiful as they may be, the flowers often fall overnight and we find them littered all over our lawn the next morning. This has made it a hassle to sweep up the flowers each morning to ensure our lawn remains tidy.
During our first few days at the house when we were feeling overwhelmed by moving in, I would often look at our lawn and figure I would sweep the flowers up the next day. But on the next day, to no one’s surprise, even more flowers fell the night before and with the lawn looking even messier, the inertia to clean it up and the temptation to procrastinate grew even more.
Reflecting on this verse in the book of James, I am struck by how one often does not immediately succumb to destructive sin. Such sin is usually a result of continuously giving into temptation until the inevitable tipping point. And just like my reluctance to sweep my lawn even as the flowers piled up, the magnitude of our sins may create an unwillingness to come before God in confession and repentance till we eventually face the consequences of our sins.
So rather than trying to struggle with our accumulated sins, I have been convicted to instead daily come to God in reflection, ready to confess and repent on any sins that God shows me. Just like a clean and tidy lawn that is swept daily, may our hearts be renewed daily by God so that we will be passionate to live holy lives and pursuit of God.
Jon and Phoebe's thetomyumkongs journey. 