The Shipworm – When the Pleasure of Sin Becomes Our Grave

Slawomir Gromadzki

Hidden inside submerged wood lives a strange creature called the shipworm. It enters the wood when very small and begins feeding and boring deeper. As it grows, it becomes many times larger than the tiny opening through which it entered and spends essentially the rest of its life inside the wood. The very thing it feeds upon becomes its food, its home, its prison and eventually its grave.

This provides a powerful illustration of cherished sin. Sin rarely appears dangerous at first. It promises pleasure, excitement or satisfaction. We think we can stop whenever we want. But every time we feed a sinful desire, it becomes stronger and we become weaker.

Shipworms can also destroy wood from the inside, boring countless tunnels until strong timber becomes weak, hollow and may eventually collapse—while still looking fairly normal on the outside. Cherished sin can work in the same hidden way, gradually destroying our spiritual strength until the very sin we enjoyed becomes our bondage and eventually our grave.

The Bible does not deny that sin can be pleasurable. Moses chose “rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” Hebrews 11:25. The pleasure is real—but it is only “for a season.”

Like the shipworm, a person can keep feeding upon the very thing that is destroying him. “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey?” Romans 6:16.

Sin Gradually Changes Us

This is perhaps the most frightening part. Sin does not merely affect what we do. If continually cherished, it changes what we love. Ellen White warned that Israel fell when they “neglected prayer” and gave themselves to ease and self-indulgence. Their fall was gradual. She wrote that through indulgence a person can reach the point where “sin which he once loathed will become pleasant to him.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 459.

This is exactly how sin deceives us. What once troubled the conscience becomes tolerated. What is tolerated becomes enjoyed. What is enjoyed becomes a habit. Eventually the sinner may defend the very thing that is destroying him.

“Exhort one another daily… lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” Hebrews 3:13.

James gives the final result: “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” James 1:15.

But God Loves Us Beyond Measure

The gospel is not a message about how angry God is with sinners. It is the revelation of how incredibly much He loves us. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.” John 3:16.

God did not remain at a safe distance while Christ suffered. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.” 2 Corinthians 5:19. In giving His Son, the Father gave heaven’s greatest treasure. Christ suffered unimaginably under the burden of our sins so that we could be forgiven, restored and brought home.

God is infinite love and His mercy is beyond our understanding. But precisely because He loves us, He cannot simply leave us inside the sin that is destroying us.

God’s holy law cannot change. It is the expression of His character of love and the standard of His judgment. We have all broken that law and cannot produce the perfect righteousness it requires. That is why we need Jesus. We are not accepted because our performance becomes perfect. We are accepted through faith in Christ and covered by His perfect righteousness. “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:24.

But genuine faith does not leave a person comfortably living in sin. A changed life does not earn salvation—it shows that faith is alive. “Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” James 2:17. A converted life does not mean flawless performance. Christians may struggle, stumble and sometimes fall. But the direction of life has changed. It becomes a life of heartfelt gratitude to God, repentance, prayer, submission and dependence upon Christ. The question is no longer, “How much sin can I enjoy and still be saved?” but, “Lord, You gave everything for me. How can I give my whole heart to You?”

The Holy Spirit Can Do What We Cannot

We cannot defeat the power of sin simply by gritting our teeth and trying harder. The gospel offers something far greater than human willpower—the indwelling Holy Spirit. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:2.

Then Paul gives one of the strongest warnings and promises in the Bible: “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” Romans 8:13.

Notice those words: “through the Spirit.” God does not ask us to transform ourselves. The Holy Spirit convicts, changes our desires, writes God’s law in the heart and gives power to live a new life. Our part is to stop resisting Him, surrender our will, confess the sins He reveals and remain connected with Christ. “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13.

We Are Living in the Great Day of Atonement

There is another reason why careless Christianity is so dangerous. We are living in the solemn antitypical Day of Atonement and judgment. On the ancient Day of Atonement God commanded His people, “Ye shall afflict your souls.” Leviticus 23:27. Those who deliberately refused were “cut off from among his people.” Leviticus 23:29.

To afflict the soul does not mean trying to earn salvation through suffering. It means taking our spiritual condition seriously—examining the heart, confessing and forsaking known sin, praying earnestly, fasting when appropriate and seeking deeper communion with God.

This is not the time for a careless life spent chasing entertainment, appetite and the passing pleasures of this world while giving God whatever time remains.

Stop Feeding Sin – Look to Jesus

There is a far better life. “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” Hebrews 12:2. “But we all… beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:18.

By beholding Christ, we are changed. Slowly His love becomes our love, His purity our desire, His will our delight. And instead of continually chasing another temporary pleasure, we discover something the world cannot give: “The peace of God, which passeth all understanding.” Philippians 4:7.

Do Not Let Your Pleasure Become Your Grave

The shipworm enters through a tiny opening. It feeds. It grows. It goes deeper. Eventually the very thing it continually consumed becomes its prison and its grave. Sin can do the same. What begins as curiosity can become pleasure. Pleasure can become habit. Habit can become slavery. And cherished sin, if continually chosen instead of Christ, ends in death. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23.

But there is wonderful hope. God loves us beyond measure. He gave His only Son to save us. We are not saved because our performance becomes flawless, but because we trust in Christ and His perfect righteousness. Yet living faith produces a surrendered life—a life that increasingly walks not after the flesh, but through the power of the Holy Spirit.

God does not ask us to conquer sin alone. He asks us to surrender and let His Spirit work within us. “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” Romans 8:13.

Do not exchange eternal life for the “pleasures of sin for a season.” Do not keep feeding what is destroying you. Look to Jesus. Stay close to Him. Surrender to the Holy Spirit. Let Him make you free.