Read Proverbs 7:4-23, Romans 6:11-12 Proverbs 7:4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call understanding your kinsman; 5 they will keep you from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words. 6 At the window of my house I looked out through the lattice. 7 I saw among the simple, I noticed among the young men, a youth who lacked judgment. 8 He was going down the street near her corner, walking along in the direction of her house 9 at twilight, as the day was fading, as the dark of night set in. 10 Then out came a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent. 11 (She is loud and defiant, her feet never stay at home; 12 now in the street, now in the squares, at every corner she lurks.) 13 She took hold of him and kissed him and with a brazen face she said: 14 “I have fellowship offerings at home; today I fulfilled my vows. 15 So I came out to meet you; I looked for you and have found you! 16 I have covered my bed with colored linens from Egypt. 17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. 18 Come, let’s drink deep of love till morning; let’s enjoy ourselves with love! 19 My husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey. 20 He took his purse filled with money and will not be home till full moon.” 21 With persuasive words she led him astray; she seduced him with her smooth talk. 22 All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose 23 till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life. Romans 6:11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
Captain E.J. Smith, Senior Commander of Great Britain’s White Fleet, was given the honor of commanding Titanic’s maiden voyage.
His plan was to make that voyage his last. He was still in good health and there were many things he wanted to accomplish in retirement. His plan was to take the ship only as far as New York. But serious errors and misjudgments resulted in his going farther than he wanted to do. About 13,000 feet farther - in the wrong direction.
That’s the thing about shipwrecks. They take you farther than you want to go. So does sin.
When David, King of Israel, stood on his roof one balmy evening watching Bathsheba step out of her clothes, the only on his mind was to enjoy her charms firsthand. That was about as far as he wanted to go. But sin will take you farther than you want to go. So while David only planned on a discreet evening of adultery, within weeks he was guilty of betrayal, murder, and a heinous cover-up.
He was shrewd. When Bathsheba turned up pregnant, David immediately brought her husband Uriah home from war. One night together, and no one would know if wasn’t Uriah’s child. But David made the classic mistake so many of us make: he thought he could use deception to cover disobedience. When Uriah refused to take advantage of being home because his friends were dying on the battlefield, David had him murdered to maintain his cover-up.
That’s how sin and deception work. They just make things worse. Your sin will surely find you out. And it’ll take you farther than you wanted to go.
I believe it was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe who once said, “To act is easy; to think is hard.” David acted, but he didn’t think. And it took him farther than he wanted to go.
I don’t know what’s going on in your life; and you don’t know what’s going on in mine. But I can tell you this. If either of us is playing around with hidden sin, it’s eventually going to come out.
So stop. Now. If you don’t, you’re going to find yourself a lot farther down the road of destruction than you ever planned on going. And it’s tough - so agonizingly tough - to come back.
-Steve Farrar-
Responding - Where will my sin take me?
Following - When we sin, Satan smirks.
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