Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Proverbs 7:21-27
Prov 7:21-27
With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him. All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a stag is caught fast till an arrow pierces its liver; as a bird rushes into a snare; he does not know that it will cost him his life. And now, O sons, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth. Let not your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths, for many a victim has she laid low, and all her slain are a mighty throng. Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death.
Rom 7:22-25a
For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
We have all heard the expression about “drawing a line in the sand.” It means that we have set a pre-determined boundary that we will not go over or allow anyone else to cross. We must do this mentally when it comes to temptations and to sin. With most temptations, there is a point of no return, so we must not even get near to it. The closer we get to the line, the harder it is to stop and turn back.
We read yesterday that if we put fire in our bosom, we will get burned and if we walk barefooted on coals, our feet will be burned. We cannot indulge in sin of any kind without paying the consequences. For some sins it seems the payment is small, so we just let ourselves go and enjoy the sin. This is dangerous for many reasons but one of them is that God does not count sin in degrees as we tend to do. Another reason is that a little sin leads to more and greater sin.
When we knowingly engage in things that are wrong (murder, adultery, theft, disrespect of God given authority, or even gossip) we are “spitting in the face” of God. We, in effect, are saying that we will not listen to him, but will do things our own way. He is no longer God to us, but we make ourselves our own god. At this point we become slaves to sin and to Satan the origin of all sin.
My Father in heaven, give me wisdom and understanding to avoid sin, even that which is small in my sight. Give me strength to stay away from sin and not flirt with it or see how close I can get without getting caught up in it. Help me to always try to draw closer to you and to be more like Jesus in every way. Lord, be with those who are facing difficult things in their lives. I pray in Jesus name.
Robert
