How much does sin weigh? What if you could place your disobedience on a scale, weigh it and discover just how much it would cost you? What if you could weigh it and then make a decision about whether or not it’s worth it? If you and I could devise a “Sin Scale” that weighed the consequences of sin, we would be richer than Bill Gates. You know people would use it. Each time someone thought of chasing a lustful thought, leaving their spouse, stealing something from work or speaking harmful words they would use the “Sin Scale” to find out if it was worth it.

    The problem with the “Sin Scale” would be that people would always think it’s broken. Here’s why: The consequences of sin always out weigh its pleasure.”  No matter how many times you try it, shift the weight or change the scenario you always lose. The consequences of sin always out weigh its pleasure.

King David could have used a Sin Scale (2 Samuel 11-18). What if he had used it before he took a lustful look at Bathsheba? One pleasurable look led to the following horrible consequences…
-    Bathsheba’s hurt and scorn.
-    The death and murder of a true friend and warrior, Uriah.
-    The death of other fine warriors.
-    The death of David and Bathsheba’s first son.
-    The death of his reputation.
-    The death of his respect.
-    Severe depression, grief, guilt and shame.
-    The removal of God’s blessing.
-    The rape of his daughter.
-    The lack of courage to discipline his sons.
-    The death of two of his adult sons.
-    The death of 20,000 soldiers.

Disobedience always weighs more than the pleasure it brings. In our lives, we must stop and consider the consequences of even the smallest act of disobedience.

The quickest way to keep the consequences from continuing to pile up is to do what David did. When confronted with his sin, he confessed and turned from it. We serve a God whose mercy is new every morning. He has taken extreme measures to redeem us and forgive us. I believe the sooner we agree with him about our sin, the less the consequences of our sin will be. But, in every situation the consequences of our sin will always out weigh its pleasure. So, forget the Sin Scale. It’s useless. Sin is never worth it.

These are a few notes from time alone with God this morning. They were challenging to me. I hope you find them useful. I would love to hear back from you if you have any thoughts.

The Perfect Pastor for the Imperfect Church,
Pastor Randall


ALSO - Thanks for an amazing day yesterday! The worship was extremely powerful, attendance was one of our largest and the response to the message was INCREDIBLE! It was exciting to see how passionately you responded to the vision God has placed on my heart. All three hundred footballs were taken as you committed to “Catch our Vision and Run with It.” Three hundred families and individuals committed to take a football as a sign of their commitment to…

1. Our Mission: To reach every person from Dawsonville to Gainesville.
2. Our Process: To grow in maturity by becoming a part of our process.
3. Our Future: To bring their football back on Sunday, April 15th filled with their gift toward the $150,000 to renovate our children’s facility, to start to meet the needs of our community and send teams around the world on missions in the next year.

Here’s some other exciting news. Yesterday, nine families indicated they want to become members of Lanier Hills. Many people indicated they want to be a part of the trip to Russia and others indicated they want to be a part of the Compassion Team to help meet the needs of our community. I am also very excited about J.K Bull coming on our staff to develop our NEW Middle School Ministry. She is going to do a phenomenal job!