Devotional: A Call to “Lock Down” and Grieve Our Sin

An Infectious Disease

Sin is infectious and deadly. It affects everyone and everything it touches. This infectious nature makes sin not unlike the coronoavirus.

During the recent pandemic, the world went into a full-on lockdown in an attempt to prevent the spread of the dangerous virus. What if the world reacted to the infectious nature of sin the same way it responded to COVID-19? What would it look like if the whole world “locked down” for two weeks to “flatten the curve” of our sin?

A World Without Sin

We are so used to sin, its presence, and its consequences. I want to challenge you to think about something for a minute: Can you imagine a world without sin? No diseases, lying, cheating, or stealing. No broken relationships, foolish behavior, power-hungry, control-seeking government officials, hubris, or wars. No out-of-wedlock pregnancies, abortions, divorce, or even death. Can we even fathom such a world? It’s hard, very hard.

A Sin Lockdown

Let me ask it again. What if the whole world locked down for two weeks to stay home and grieve our sin? What might that look like? I can envision lots of fasting, praying, and lifting hands while praising the one and only triune God of the universe. Maybe store shelves would be out of pens and notebooks as people journaled and processed the state of their relationship with God Almighty.

I think the average amount of time watching T.V. or being on social media would plummet, possibly reaching pre-internet and pre-smartphone levels. I can picture people going on long walks and spending time outside early in the morning and late at night gazing at the sun, moon, and stars and considering the One who put them in place and knows them by name. And Bible reading would undoubtedly spike for both print and digital formats.

In the hypothetical situation I’m describing, what would be the theme of your dinner conversations? I believe they would sound like Deuteronomy 6 moments as you answered questions posed by your children and pondered the realities of truth, Heaven, Hell, eternity, sin, grace, faith, and salvation.

How Would Life Change?

How would your morning routines, daily activities, and evening habits change in this lock-down-to-grieve-our-sin event? The speed of life slowed down considerably during March and April of 2020. Do you long to experience that more relaxing pace of life again? Does that all seem like a distant memory—something in our collective past that has little chance of being resurrected?

The world may not join you for a two-week lockdown to grieve sin. But it doesn’t mean you can’t “go into your closet” and take some time in solitude to think about things that are true, right, noble, pure, lovely, excellent, or praiseworthy.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. — Philippians. 4:8