A malignancy that metastasizes is a medical phrase, but metaphorically, it is a spiritual condition that requires immediate attention.
Every day in medical clinics around the world, dreadfully worried patients say something like this to their doctor:
"Doctor, I'm dreadfully worried. Sleepless nights have been the norm for me for over a month now. This is the appointment I have always wished I could have avoided. Be upfront with me. But please, please tell me the tumour is benign and that the pain I am experiencing is just the pressure from its growth."
Allow the storyline now to migrate into the spiritual realm:
"I am so sorry but I do have to tell you some very, very difficult news. The tumour is not benign. It is malignant, and the cancer is metastasizing more quickly than I originally thought. The tumour is sin, and with that diagnosis, you need to know it is never benign or harmless. Whether at a one-cell stage or a massive tumour stage - regardless of size, it's a grave matter. It is the most deadly cancer known in the world today. Without exception, left unattended, it always metastasizes and spreads. And the pain you mentioned is not innocuous or innocent pressure. There is a reason for it. You can have pain without sin but you can’t have sin without pain. They always go hand-in-hand together. Sometimes unbearable excruciating pain."
Consider this example of just how quickly and darkly the malignancy of sin metastasizes and spreads:
But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because, on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus. John 12:10-11
Because of the dense spiritual blindness of the Jewish chief priests, we can see why they felt it was legitimate to condemn Jesus to death. They thought He was guilty of blasphemy for what they considered to be His bold and audacious claim of being the very Son of God. But sin creates greater internal darkness and rages out of control. Now, they are plotting to wipe out Lazarus — an honourable, peace-loving citizen who had never been charged with blasphemy or any known wrongdoing. Sin metastasizes in all shapes and sizes. Sin blinds our faculties and sense of good judgment.
In 2 Chronicles 26, we read about King Uzziah, a mighty king of Judah and greatly used by God. He seemed unthankful to the Lord for being able to accomplish so much during his reign, which led to unchecked pride in his heart. There is never an ounce of good in pride. It led to his unfaithfulness to the Lord.
Power and pride caused Uzziah to think he could live above the law, and arrogantly, he marched into the temple to offer incense to the Lord, something God allowed only priests to do. But sin metastasized quickly. The King defied Azariah and eighty other priests who bravely and courageously confronted him with his sin. King Uzziah erupts in an outburst of rage. Who would have thought while reading the earlier verses outlining the tremendous accomplishments of Uzziah that he would plummet so quickly to such depths of darkness and end his days at a distance from his people due to leprosy!
We are all too familiar with the malignancy that metastasized in King David’s life. It started with a look of lust, then an act of adultery, and then it snowballed from there. Scheming a cover-up, ordering his trusted men to do questionable things, plotting a murder and then a cold, icy, almost inhumane response when news came of Uriah’s death in battle. The tender and sensitive-hearted shepherd that he was — but oh, how the malignancy raged out of control!
Those are just three examples of how the cancer of sin metastasizes. An old proverb asks the rhetorical question where the answer is so obvious:
“Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned?” Proverbs 6:27.
Are you playing with a matchstick today or sporting with a spark? Sin is the most devastating cancer known to the human family.
Radical action is imperative, or the results will be devastating and incredibly awful. There is only one intervention that works: full repentance, honest confession, a humble spirit, abandonment of sin and a surrender of myself into the hands of the Lord for His power to take over.
Read it here: Live Happily Ever After – Until Tragedy Strikes
It wouldn’t hurt any of us to quietly and prayerfully read today King David’s prayer of confession and his cry for restoration after the Bathsheba debacle and disgrace. “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation…” Psalm 51:12
Don’t hesitate to share a thought from your personal experience or a verse that has been a blessing to you – in the comment section below. Or, if you would like to reach out privately, click below.
