Spanish lesson

I recently returned from a fortnight's holiday in Spain. We stayed at a little place called Bena Vista, which is on the southern cost of Spain, situated between Marbella and Estapona. There were 7 of us in the party, and it was lovely to spend some quality family time together. The weather, naturally, was pretty much wall-to-wall sunshine, and the swimming pool was very well used! To be honest, I usually prefer to holiday in the UK, but the benefit of going to somewhere like the Costa del Sol is that the weather is generally much more predictable. We returned to clouds and rain in the UK!

It was a visit to the local supermarket that set off my train of thinking. I noticed as we walked round that a number of products had the word "SIN" in the title. I took my camera along and managed to get a picture of one example, some cheese, which was titled "SIN LACTOSA". This means, "without lactose".

I found it interesting that the Spanish word "sin" means "without". I thought about how this fits in with the word sin as used in the Bible. Basically, what the Bible calls sin is anything which goes against God's will and purpose. When we choose to take a course of action which disobeys God's commands, then we sin. More than that, the Bible states that "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). In other words, sin separates us from God, creating a barrier between us and God, leaving us, in a very real sense, without the intimate, close relationship with God which is his desire and purpose for us.

The good news is that Romans 6:23 goes on to say, "...but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." On the cross, Jesus died to pay the price for our sin. By accepting his sacrifice, believing in him, and committing our lives into his control, we are set free from the law of sin and death. We can live a new life, empowered by his Spirit. No more separation, no more being "without", but drawn into loving relationship with him and discovering our true purpose and identity. It's strange the thoughts that can come from a packet of cheese!