The cats have a new drinking dish. It has a small motor that pumps water up in the bowl. Our daughter, Tiffany, got this as they are her cats. When the cats first heard the bubbling and gurgling they shied away from it. With curiosity they looked at it from afar. Eventually they got use to it and would come over and drink out of it. One of the cats likes to lay near it sometimes and just listen to the water.

How do you handle new things? Are you eager to take part in them or do you draw back with reservation? Are some things scary to you—at least at first? When a child goes to school for the first time it is a scary thing. They have left the security of home to go to a place where they’re around a teacher they may not know, other children who are different than they are and a new set of rules. When you begin a new job you are around people you may not know, you may have a boss that you’re not sure what he may expect from you and they may even do things differently than you do. All of this can be scary. But with time we get use to everyone and how things work and what is expected of us.

Now let’s apply this to sin. Sin means "to miss the mark." Picture someone shooting at a target. When they hit the target they have succeeded. When they miss the target they have missed the mark. Something we once called sin may not be so to us today. Why would that be? Just like the cats we have gotten use to it. It is always around and so we get "comfortable" with it. We even partake of it. Slowly at first, but then we may be totally absorbed in it.

James 1:13-15 informs us, "Let no one say when he is tempted, ’ I am being tempted by God.’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. The desire when it has conceived gives both to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death." Sin is very attractive—Satan makes it that way. But we are entangled (as a fish is enticed with bait) our own desire is what causes us to give in. James said when we do it brings forth death—separation from God.

What are the things you have gotten use to in your life? Could it be absenting yourself from the assembly? Maybe it’s lying or cheating. Perhaps it’s adultery. For some it is pornography. For others it may be something different. Look at your life and compare it to God’s holy Word. Sin is sin and if it is unrepentant it could cost us our souls. Don’t get too comfortable with sin.