Lamentation 1:1
"How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!"
Sin's last word is much different than it promised.
Sin is one of the biggest liars you will ever hear. It promises dreams, but gives you heartache. It promises everything, but gives you nothing. It promises the world, but gives you bondage. Sin's promise is truly empty.
Jeremiah laments what sin had done to the people of God. The Book of Lamentations is truly the last word of sin. Jeremiah shows that the promises of sin never came through. Certainly, they enjoyed their sin for a bit, but when the last word is spoken you see a people who realized the emptiness of sin's promise. Let's look at the last word of sin.
Sin's last word is that it will leave you alone. One of the promises of sin is that it gives you a lot of friends, but when you look at the verse above you realize that sin left these people solitary. Sin left a city that used to be filled with people a solitary place. Sin left the city a ghost town. This was not what sin promised, but these people found out that sin leaves you all alone.
Likewise, sin will not give you the friends that you think it will. Yes, they may come in the beginning, but when all is said and done, you will be alone to deal with the affects of your sin. I have watched many people who accepted sin's invitation find that when their sin was revealed, the friends they had were gone. Don't believe sin's promise of friendship, for sin's last word is loneliness.
Sin's last word is that it will leave you in sorrow. Jeremiah makes the statement that the city had "become as a widow." In other words, they were grieving their loss. Sin promised them so much but left them with nothing. Sin will do the same thing for you. It will promise you everything but it will leave you grieving your losses. Sin always leaves a person to wonder, "What if..." What a terrible way to live the rest of your life! God wants His children to enjoy their life "more abundantly." (John 10:10) Friend, you can live the abundant life if you will stay away from sin, but if you let sin have its way in your life the last word will leave you grieving what you could have had.
The last word of sin is that it leaves you serving. Notice that the city had "become tributary." Sin promised them that they would be in control of their own lives, but the last word of sin left them serving sin. When you accept sin's invitation, you are accepting the chains that come with sin. Sin eventually controls you. When you want to quit, it will keep you coming back. The freedom it promised will never be realized. Don't ever think that sin will give you more freedom than doing right. Once you start down the road of sin, you will then have to deal with the heartache of its servitude.
Christian, don't let sin have the last word in your life. The last word of sin is always heartache; whereas, the last word of doing right is an abundant life. Now is the time to deal with your sin. You can stop sin from having the last word in your life by forsaking it now. Don't be the next statistic of sin. Whatever sin you have allowed in your life, take care of it today by confessing it to God and forsaking it!