The weight of sin

Diana Kerr

I’m fascinated by the fact that all the toppings at a frozen yogurt shop cost you the same amount per pound. Clearly the breakfast cereal toppings or gummy bears cost the owners less per pound than the nuts and fruit, right? I load up on pecans and fruit because, hey, when they weigh my bowl, it will all cost me the same. Outside of the froyo shop, that logic doesn’t make sense, but in there, the price is equal.

When it comes to sin, though, we’re really good at weighing it unevenly, aren’t we? I get it. It’s almost impossible not to. According to society and our justice system, sin isn’t created equal. But in God’s court, sin is sin. It all weighs the same, and we’ve all been charged equally: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

Yep. One sin, even one tiny sin, separates me from God, and the price is death. (I need to remember this when I’m smugly thinking I’m better than others.) To God, the cost for an ever-so-slightly snarky comment toward someone is the exact same as the cost for a grotesque sexual sin.

That’s heavy news without the gospel, but here it is: “Our old self was crucified with him. . . . Anyone who has died has been set free from sin” (Romans 6:6,7). Miraculously, mercifully, Jesus paid the cost through death, and his death counts for us. Our sins’ weight was crushing, but now we’re light and free.

Devotion used by permission of Time of Grace®. For more information, visit timeofgrace.org