When open air preaching I recently took a man in his mid-20’s through the Ten Commandments. As many people do, he trivialized his sins. His lies were only “white” lies that he told “in the past.” He admitted to stealing, but said that it happened when he was “just a kid.” The inference is that a young child was innocent in that he doesn’t know right from wrong. When I asked what it was that he stole, he blurted “I just took a pen from work.” I laughed and said, “So you were a working child?” The crowd also laughed, and that’s when he realized that he couldn’t wriggle his way out of this lie. He admitted that he was 18 years old when he stole the pen.
It’s been said that taking the easy path is what makes men and rivers crooked. But that’s where the analogy between rivers and men, ends. When a river is dammed, it is merely held back, but when a sinner is damned it will be in a terrible place called Hell, from which there is no escape.
