Minimize?

Almost two months ago, I hired on with a property management company in Hickory as an apartment painter. Because I am painting apartments (with frequent turnovers) and not high dollar homes, the goal isn't to be perfec but to minimize--make it look better but don't spend a lot of time patching, sanding, etc. It'll look clean and fresh, but it won't be perfect. Just get it done as quickly as possible! Minimize your time! Minimize the prep work!

Often, we tend to minimize sin and its effects. We're sinners, after all, so it's expected--and everybody sins anyway. We act as if one sin is no big deal, so we offer a quick prayer for forgiveness and move on. Or we hide what we've done, push away the guilty feelings, and hope no one finds out. We try to minimize the consequences of our actions by failing to confess and accept responsibility.

No, it's no big deal to us. But it surely is to God. Even our secret sins are in the light of his presence. There is no place to hide from him. One sin makes us guilty and liable for punishment. Yet, God offers us atonement for our sins!

Where we try to appease God (make deals with him, or try to "buy him off), God atones. He pays the price himself, turns away his wrath from us and pours it out on his approved substitute. And God does not practice double jeopardy--if sin is atoned, it cannot be punished again! So instead of trying to minimize sin, let us live in holiness and magnify our God.