I do not understand what I do...It is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me...For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing...I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin. I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Romans 7:15-25
For those of you that have read Ted Dekker, you already know what an awe-inspiring writer he is. For those of you who don't, I highly recommend picking up this book I just couldn't put down, Thr3e. Something I have not revealed yet is that I am an aspiring writer...if only God could have granted me the gift he has this man...not that we are to covet one anothers talents (a silent sin I must confess..you'll see why in a moment).
In Thr3e, the main character, Kevin, looks like your everyday man. In fact, he is your everyday man...with a secret that is trying to overtake him. He's good looking (why are all the hero's and heroine's good looking? Well, most), a seminary student...and deeply intellegent. What's not to like? His shattered and broken childhood.Out of the blue, a stranger appears out of the blue who's sole desire is to tear Kevin down...mentally. What falls but does not break? What breaks but does not fall? He is consumed with opposites, and threes. There is a bomb in the car Kevin, and it will blow in 3 minutes if you don't confess your sin. When Kevin is unaware of what "sin" he is too confess, he gets off the busy road as quickly as he can, cutting off drivers and clipping fenders. He gets to a safe place and, just when it seems that the stranger is just trying to make Kevin look like a fool- the car blows. The game is on.
He places a call to his best friend from childhood, the only one who knows at least some of his secrets, but even she doesn't know all. Samantha, who is now with the California Bureau of Investigations, comes to his aide.
But what happens in a world where nothing is what it seems? When black is white, when good is evil, and what's real is unreal?
Okay, so this sounds like a book review...which it is. I loved the book. But, even more so, a review on our lives. Kevin has this facination with absolute morals in the book, after his adoptive mother decided that the only truth in the world was what she made it...everything else is unreal. But he sees the same "sins" within the church as he saw in real world...just covered up, slid under the rug...kept in the dark. What sins do we hide that we don't want the real world to see? What demons do we battle behind the scenes while everyday we smile and go on our merry way?
And how do we beat them? We shine the light on them. Bring them out of the darkness and expose them to the light of day. They wither away. What I want to do I do not do and what I don't want to do I do. I don't wish to yell at my kids, but I'm tired. My nerves are stretched. I want to be affectionate with my husband, but instead I lie and pray that he might touch me instead, crying warm tears and hoping he doesn't hear. Other sins that go on behind closed doors that no one knows about...sometimes the closed doors of our minds.
But, now how to go about exposing the light of day to them? I know what the Word says, and Jesus is the Light of the world. I know this. But, I can't help but feel like I'm missing something. This is the man struggling between the two. And so the role play continues, until we find the answer.
