Sin based struggle is not an instantaneous chance moment that happens to a person. It’s birthed through the smallest seed of wrong thinking. Ignored or neglected sin seeds will penetrate the most devout heart.
Cover to cover the God tells us, “Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil. Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on.” Proverbs 4:14-15
Wrong thoughts turn into wrong choices
When the Serpent nudged Eve’s thinking, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Eve responded after moment of thoughtful hesitation (this is not biblically documented, but my perception). Genesis 3:1
Why a thoughtful hesitation? Natural curiosity makes us susceptible. When the object of our curiosity is “forbidden” and we’re casual about smothering such curiosity it’s a matter of time before we take a bite of the forbidden fruit.
We tend to dismiss dealing with these miniscule sin seeds because they’re so small. The seed is further ignored when we find ourselves distracted by the many good works God fills our hands with. Meanwhile, we’re unaware that the sin seed is quietly growing and overtaking our hearts.
Often we shrug off the first harvest from our sin seed
We shrug it off with an….
“Ooops”
“Shoudn’t have done that…”
“I’m forgiven…”
“Thank God for grace…”
We confess and repent like good Christians but we fail to ask God to reveal the deeper sin in our hearts. Oblivious that the sin is rooted much deeper than the fruit it bears we cloak the sin seed with grace and forgiveness. You read that correctly. Unattended sin seeds are protected by our love of grace and forgiveness.
Rather than asking God to reveal the source of the sin seed, we simply “ask forgiveness” and move along. Moving along means carrying the unattended and ever growing sin seed with us.
Uprooting Sin Seeds
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Proverbs 4:23
Sin seeds begin in our hearts. We must be diligent to allowing God to honestly evaluate and reveal sin seeds in our hearts. As our world continues to make dramatic shifts that counter the wisdom God teaches this is more difficult.
Like many of you, I really like to enjoy myself and have an aversion to being a “fun killer”. Nobody wants to be the “party pooper”, the “proper person”, the one in the room not laughing or participating.
If you’re on your self-righteous high horse because you’d never put yourself in such a situation please get off, please read your bible and step out of the self-imposed bubble you’ve created. People need hope and the source of hope is in God alone.
Living your life as an example is NOT ENOUGH. Jesus didn’t say, “Live your life and wait for people to ask you how to live a peaceful life.” The command is clear: GO.
We’re clearly called to engage those outside the “Christian bubble” but engaging presents challenges especially when sin seeds are left unattended. Do we blend in so well that our mission is compromised and our hearts are jeopardized? We must guard against merely being undercover Christians that have lost our identity and reason for hope. Every believer must make time to take stalk of this.
Staying huddled in a Christian bubble isn’t an option. As we go we must have our anchor in Christ and the support of other believers.
Successfully On Mission
As we posture ourselves for triumph God provides a way to monitor the direction of our hearts by being acutely aware of our thinking. Consider this the Christian Growth Mindset:
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Philippians 4:8
God doesn’t want us to be undone by sin seeds. He offers wisdom to protect us so we can live and abundant life and receive His blessings.
Go! Live holy, live fully!
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