Sin

As seen at The Puritan's Woodshop:

Light without, Darkness within

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

(Psa 139:23-24 KJV)

“The heart of man is full of sin and corruption, and that corruption is of an exceedingly darkening, blinding nature. Sin always carries a degree of darkness with it; and the more it prevails, the more it darkens and deludes the mind.- It is from hence that the knowing whether there be any wicked way in us is a difficult thing. The difficulty is not at all for want of light without us, not at all because the word of God is not plain, or the rules not clear; but it is because of the darkness within us. The light shines clear enough around us, but the fault is in our eyes; they are darkened and blinded by a pernicious distemper.

Sin is of a deceitful nature, because, so far as it prevails, so far it gains the inclination and will, and that sways and biasses the judgement.”

-Jonathan Edwards, from Christian Cautions

This post caught my attention particularly in the last line of Edwards' quote. Sin's danger and destructive power is not just in the sinning itself, though the danger and destructiveness in that is enough to make you an enemy of God and condemn you to hell. But it is perilous because of its deceitful and beguiling qualities. Sinning, and sin itself, captivates our inclination and wills. Edwards purported that the regenerate where endued with a 'inner relish' for God and the things of God. Sin smothers this inner relish, this desiring of things spiritual. So, not only do we reap the punishment that comes with sin, but we are also subjected to its motivation-smothering effects.

I approach Christ for forgiveness for my sins, but also for a strengthening of the God-ward desires for Him that His regenerative work procured in me.