Wednesday, May 01, 2013

Daily Gospel Devotional 2013: A supper of sin

Matthew 14:3-12 / Mark 6:17-29…

Like Herod, those with a hardened heart might be temporarily kept in check by their fascination with faithful people and by fearing what might happen. However, it will only be a matter of time before the idol factory of their soul invents some justification for what it wants. Some try and maintain some sense of dignity about it all, but underneath are the same dirty deeds. They add sin upon sin, and yet are deceived into thinking that they are morally right for adhering to some other principle when it suits their seared conscience. You know the type; “I may do this, but I would never do that.”  

Herod’s idol was lust. It is the reason he had taken his brother’s wife unlawfully, and the reason he had John imprisoned, because the man of God called him out on account of it. The object of lust can change in a moment, because lust is “I want it now”. Now, the idol in his heart reared up and we see him succumb to the ministrations of his own wife’s daughter. Herod’s wife was herself a wicked soul, allowing her daughter to be shamed, and using the opportunity to manipulate Herod for her own will.

Sin multiplies faster than anything on earth. It will trick you into new temptations all your life long if you let it. And it will hurt others, not just you. Allowing one sin is permission for all to enter in. Sin will always take you further than you want to go, for longer than you want to stay, and it will cost you more than you can pay. You wind up on the not-so-merry-go-round of misery and manipulation. It is a progression, from enticed, to entrapped, to enslaved (James 1:14-15). Sin will make you sin more, and you’ll think you have to sin just to stop from hurting the ones you didn’t mean to. At some point, you are just going to have to confess and repent, because you can’t do wrong to get a chance to do right.

You can hide away for now, but be sure your sin will find you out (Numbers 32:23). It may just be that something or someone else will put you in the position where the poison in your soul is served up on a platter. 

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

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