WHY ARE PEOPLE SO INFATUATED WITH SIN?

“Foolish people don't care if they sin.” Proverbs 14:9, GNB

“Sin and shame go together.” Proverbs 18:3, GNB

With its tolerance for adult entertainment, Las Vegas proudly bills itself as Sin City.

We are invited to come to Las Vegas to gamble, visit strip clubs, sleep around, spend money, and nobody has to know about it. It's OK because, as they say, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.”

Outlaw motorcycle gangs boast that they are “Hell's Angels” and “The Devil's Diciples” (Their web page states that the founders intentionally misspelled disciple so as to distance themselves from religious affiliation).

In a city near my hometown, there is a motorcycle shop called “Sinful Threads,” which is an authorized retailer of “Sin City Cycles.”

Various kinds of candy and ice cream are called “sinful” delights.

The government raises revenue with the creation of a “sin” tax.

http://uslegal.com defines sin tax as follows:
“To raise revenue for tight government budgets, legislators sometimes attempt to raise revenue by imposing unusually high excise taxes on cigarettes, liquor, gambling, and so on. This type of charge, often called a "sin tax," appeals to voters who view it as a way of discouraging consumption of certain objectionable products.” (Kind of amusing, commit sin and you get taxed for it).

The cover of a magazine that I purchased last year, shows an apple with a bite taken out of it engraved with the seven deadly sins. The cover read “Born to Sin—Science explains why it's good to be bad.”

The story begins by quoting Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death.” It continues with a question,“But what if Paul and his contemporaries got it wrong? What if the wages of sin is actually life? What if humans need to be led into temptation to survive? In universities around the world, scientists are beginning to realize that the seven deadly sins could well be necessary evils for evolution and human development.”

Hmm, I think that they are called “deadly” sins for a reason. And didn't Jesus teach us to pray “and lead us not into temptation?”

People have this idea that when sin, Satan, the devil or hell are mentioned it is supposed to be more fun and attractive. Men feel like men; rugged individuals. It's shocking to me that some women find a sinful lifestyle appealing!

Why the infatuation? I believe that it's because we are sinners by nature, and sinners are rebels. That might be the allure to do things that deep down we know we aren't suppose to do. It's forbidden. It's exotic.

Sin, which is pleasurable for a season, appeals to our sinful nature, and the flesh gets aroused. The lust of flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life excite us, and we have to have these things or partake in them or else we won't be satisfied. They fill a void in our lives that only the Lord can fill.

As we continue to rebel against the Lord and His commands and desire to go our own way, He gives us up to a reprobate mind. See Romans 1:18-32.

Sin is a serious matter. Sin is deadly. The wages of sin is death, not life! James writes,”...we are tempted when we are drawn away and trapped by our own evil desires. Then our evil desires conceive and give birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death (1:14,15, Good News Bible, emphasis added).

Spiritual death. Eternally separated from God.

We should never take sin lightly. Because he loves us so much, Jesus died for our sins. The Word says that God made him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21. We should never sin willfully or deliberately because we know that the Lord will forgive us (He will of course, but that is abusing grace). Once we realize that we have sinned, we need to ask the Lord to wash and cleanse us with His precious blood. For without His shed blood, there is no forgiveness for our sins.

There is nothing glamorous about sin. We should never envy those who are living in sin as though we are missing out on something.

When faced with a temptation to sin we must immediately look to the Lord so that we won't fall into sin. (Remember that temptation is not a sin. If we yield to temptation then we have sinned).

When tempted be encouraged by what the Word of God says.

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (NIV)
Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (NIV)