Hebrews 3:13 says, “But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today’, so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” I am coming to see one aspect of the deceitfulness of sin. I have noticed that I can be “on track” for the Lord and yet, in one moment, be derailed by sin. And then the lie (liar?) comes in and says, “you know, now that you've sinned, you've relegated yourself to second class citizen. God is decidedly not pleased with you. You stand condemned, and you are filthy. Go to the “cellar” and stay there until you've gotten your act together and worked off your debt. Don’t even imagine that you have unfettered access to God now. You gave that up when you made that decision to sin; and you did make the decision didn't you. Maybe someday, you’ll actually treat God as though He’s really valuable to you; not like it’s hard for you to decide between sin and Him. Until you’re ready to do that, just go. You’re so far from being that person, that you might as well just give up. Heck, you might as well just sin some more. I mean, what’s the difference. A little further away from God is nothing compared to how far you have to go to get back to Him.” (Or some variation thereof)
Last night, I was watching YouTube videos of the amazing things that people do on bicycles, diving boards, trampolines, etc. One of the videos had a portion where a shapely girl was dancing in a bikini. I knew I should have turned it off, but I went ahead and watched it. As is always the case, sin deceived me in (at least) two ways. The first most obvious way was in how it deceived me into thinking that I was gaining from the experience. “Ah, here’s life! Enjoy this little tidbit of forbidden fruit. It will satisfy!”
This is a lie, for the eyes of lust are never satisfied. In fact, lust is the opposite of love. Love seeks to please others. Lust seeks to please self. Lust, in fact, wars against love. But the second way it deceived me was as described in the paragraph above. The devil takes every advantage and will exploit every angle!
But the lie was exposed! Before I went to bed, I remembered that I had wanted to write down one of my earlier observations (the one about poverty and blindness). As I wrote, I was increasingly encouraged. By the time I went to bed, I was lifting my hands in praise to God for His wonderful provision, and thanking Him that He had made me rich! There was no second class status! No need to go to the "cellar"! No debt to pay that wasn't already paid! Yes, I had turned away. And if I had remained turned away, God would faithfully and lovingly (and sometimes painfully) discipline me for the purpose of bringing me to my senses. But He doesn't condemn me… ever! All I had done was turn to His word, and His word had had its healing, encouraging effect.
“long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation” 1Peter 2:2
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