Hieronymus Bosch: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things  Hieronymus Bosch  (circa 1450 –1516)

Oh, sinnerman, where you gonna run to?
Sinnerman where you gonna run to?
Where you gonna run to?
All on that day
We got to run to the rock
Please hide me, I run to the rock …
… But the rock cried out
I can't hide you, the rock cried out … 
I said rock
What's the matter with you rock?
Don't you see I need you, rock? …
So I run to the river
It was bleedin', I run to the sea …
So I run to the river
It was boilin', I run to the sea …

So I run to the Lord
Please hide me, Lord

Thus sang the golden voice from the broken and troubled heart of Nina Simone. She captured that piece of our human condition that longs for re-connection with its source — but finds that connection so illusive.

The point is, I have, more than once, regarded iniquity in my heart and have  found it difficult to find the hidden face of God.

But, there is hope.

“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:” – Psalm 66:18,

“But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” – Isaiah 59:2

“For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.” – Hebrews 12:3

Sin is no friend to humanity; it dehumanizes. It is no retreat; it is a prison. It is no relief; it saps the strength of the soul. It is a fleeting pleasure and a deceptive companion.

Sin destroys relationships, especially the divine-human relationship.

It destroys our sense of human dignity and self-respect.

It is not our friend.

 “It was a word once in everyone’s mind, but is now rarely if ever heard. Does that mean that no sin is involved in all our troubles? Has no one committed sin? Where, indeed, did sin go? What became of it?”  – Karl Menninger, "Whatever Became of Sin?"

Menninger maintains that we have assigned many former "sins" to the category of crimes and put the government in charge of them.

That severely narrows sin's definition to the most repulsive and disgusting social trespasses and negates the sins of attitude, betrayal, and motive that make up most of what the scripture calls "sin."

Sin is so close to righteousness that the word used to describe it is the same as that for an archer missing a goal, even by a little. It is either off or it is on …. so the criteria must be something other than legal.

Sin is about relationship.

Do not let sin come between you and the Father today.

Do not let it linger.

Do not labor under the burden of guilt or the distraction of temptation. Sin begins in the heart and breaks the heart.

If there is sin in your heart, stop cherishing it and hiding from it. Both actions are rooted in the same deception. Let confession swell up from within you and bring you to true repentance and a renewed experience of His refreshing grace.

Sin weighs us down and besets us at every turn.

It is our enemy.It is our common enemy We all struggle with it and can be overcome by it.

It lives in our flesh and will take every opportunity we give it to distract, sidetrack, and derail us from the way that God has set before us. But sin is rendered impotent by the power of God and when we exercise focus on Jesus Christ by grace, we find the place of repentance and renewal.

We have not, can not, and will not be called upon to endure what Jesus endured. We cannot bear what He bore, but neither do we bear our own burdens and temptations alone. It is His power within us that triumphs in the struggle with sin and it is His merciful and gracious love that forgives us when we fail and holds out the hope of a new start.

Jesus, I trust in Your life through me to overcome the sin that so easily besets me.

Father, my desire for You is greater than the lure of sin. Cleanse my heart by Your grace and fill me with Your Holy Spirit. Your Name is Holy. Make me holy today. It is the deepest desire of my heart.