For the wages of sin is death…

— Romans 6:23

“Then, when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin; and when sin is finished, it brings forth death” (James 1:15). So it was in the world of the spirits before man was created, and so it was also at the beginning of the human race. This is the source of all manner of sadness. Grief has but one primary root, and tears have but one primary source; and that root, that source, is sin.

No sob ever mingled with Eden’s breezes. No tear ever dripped from the eyelids of Mother Eve ’til sin first reared its ugly head. No heartache was ever known until the serpent made a conquest of the human will. Then sobs and sighs and tears and weeping and wailing and mourning and all of the woeful progeny of sin were born into the world. After sin, sadness reigned on the face of the earth.

Where there is no sin, there is no sadness or sorrow or grief, but this world teems with sin, and so sadness rolls down like a river. Sin has robbed man of honor and dignity. Sin has cleft such a chasm between mankind and God and has cloaked mankind with such impurity and sadness that it is no wonder this world is called—and is actually found to be—a vale of tears, sorrow, and sadness … .

Question to ponder:
In heaven sadness and sorrow will flee away, but what about this life? Is there less sadness in godly living?