The Volcano Effect - Living in the Danger of Familiarity

Every time there is some kind of disaster it amazes me that there are people who had proper warning, people who knew harm was coming to them, and yet they choose to stay.  I have seen this most recently related to the volcano happening on Hawaii.  I have seen this during floods and typhoons and hurricanes.  I have seen this during wildfires.  It seems that though there is often plenty of warning, and plenty of knowledge of the devastating effects of an event, there are still people who want to "ride it out."

I think that this too is a reflection of our own hearts, particularly as it relates to sin.  Even as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we tend to get comfortable and stop worrying about the dangers of the sin that we are so accustomed to.  We stop thinking about its effects.  We stop thinking about its harm and we think that we of all people will be ok.  After all, we are natives to this area.  We have weathered this storm before. But most of all, we are firmly convinced in our own minds that we cannot be affected by something because we have too much control.  There is too much time left, and if things get really bad we will still have time to get out.

Unfortunately, as with the storms, sin overtakes people faster than they will think it does.  It may lay dormant for a while, but eventually it will explode, and when it does, the harm you could previously outrun if you wanted to will overtake you.  Or you will find that because you are so familiar you may not even want to run.  You might stare into the fiery lava of sin and simply let it overtake you. 

There is another way - accepting the help that Jesus offers and doing the things that he recommends- don't trust yourself!  Certainly don't trust the sin.  Trust no one or nothing but Jesus and flee the sin and run to Him.  Perhaps you need to do this today for the first time, or perhaps as a believer you need to be reminded of the danger of familiarity with sin.