Has that ever happened to you? You are outside and it is so cloudy you don't concern yourself with sunscreen, and before you know it you are scorched and red?
It happened to me just the other day when Tracy and I took the kids to the local water park. We got there as soon as it opened. It was about 70 degrees out and overcast, threatening to rain. Nonetheless, I sprayed the kids down in SPF 70 sunscreen and add used the cream for their faces and under their eyes. We went home at lunch time and then returned around 2:00 PM. I applied the sunscreen again to them as well as to myself and about 1.5 hours later I applied it a 3rd time because the sun was out a fair bit more and I wanted to be on the safe side. We played, splashed, swam and went down the water slides. We stayed until just before closing time at 5:30. It was so much fun and we really had a good time.
Then we got home and I noticed how sun burned they were. I was shocked, it wasn't that sunny out for most of the day and I had applied sunscreen liberally. There is not much that can make me feel like a bad parent than to let my kids get sun burned.
Then I noticed that I was even worse! It made me wonder if the sunscreen I was using even works. And then it hit me...A sermon illustration in the making. God opened my eyes to this comparison.
We live in a world that is cursed with sin. It happened in the beginning with Adam and Eve, and the Bible says will continue until Jesus returns and once and forever rids the universe of sin. As a Christian I realize this and try to shield myself from it's effects as much as I can. I try to protect my children from this as well as much as I can. I don't mean we live in a bubble and I realize that as my children get older, they will have to make decisions for themselves to be shielded from sin as much as they can. But no matter how much we may try to avoid sin, we still live in the world and are affected by it.
How many times do we participate in something, thinking well it is not really "that bad" is it? Ever engage friends with good intentions of being good influences and witnesses only to find out that they really influenced us more than we did them? Or we think we have applied enough "sin-screen" (church, prayer, Bible reading) to inoculate ourselves only to find out that we have been deceived and that we missed the verses about "fleeing youthful lusts" and instead we hang around.
As Christians we must practice the Biblical principle of avoiding sin as much as possibly can. We do so by turning and getting as close as we can to Jesus. Sin, like the sun is fire. Play with fire (or out in the sun) and you are going to get burned.
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