Your Sin will Seek You Out
Do Not Be Deceived
Sin, in any form, can NOT be covered or kept secret, no matter how hard we may try to conceal it. We might fool our wife, our husband, our family, the preacher, the whole community, but remember: the wheels of God grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine. Time will uncover that which we do.
God is NO respector of persons. He has no favorites or contracts or seniority. Sin is Sin, no matter who commits it--even a preacher--a person whose conduct and influence should be above reproach. If we deliberately disobey God's Word, we have sinned. It is NOT a "shortcoming" or a "fault" or a "character flaw": it is SIN! We cannot trifle with the Word of God and still have His approval upon our life. Any who might think they can are badly deceived!
The devil knows he cannot make a saint of God go openly to sin, so he works slowly and cunningly to accomplish his purpose. He is always waiting to tempt us and draw us away from the things of God everyday that we must live. We need to keep in mind that he is EVER on our trail, and he is NOT about to let up!
David's Downfall
At one time, David loved and feared God above all else. God had used him in many ways. He was a man after God's own heart. Yet there came a time in his life when he set aside all righteous principles and let a spirit of lust take hold of him. That act caused his reputation, his influence and his character to become disgraced.
David sent Joab to do that which David should have been doing--David stayed behind. That's like so many of us today--we want to relegate and delegate, but we don't want to move our lazy selves to action! When we disobey that which the Lord has told us to do, there may not be an immediate clap of thunder closely followed by a direct hit of lightning, but the journey AWAY FROM GOD begins from the first second we disobey! At any second, we can turn and repent, moving back into the Way and Will of God, but how many times do we do that?
How many places for a U-TURN have you already counted for Ole' King David? (1) Should have readied himself and joined his troops; (2) Should have immediately turned away when he saw the woman bathing; (3) Gone no further when he found out she was the wife of another man. Remember, first David felt pride of life, then lust of the eyes: now we're at NUMBER 3: Lust of the flesh. Yep, David just kept digging his own pit: And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house. And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.
II Samuel 11:4,5. David passed up that fourth opportunity for a U-Turn, didn't he?
God ALWAYS makes a way for us to escape temptation,
but do we take it?
Of course, you and I can see that David SHOULD HAVE KNOWN that God knew what he had done. We don't have to wonder where God was when David was sinning. But let's turn that same light upon ourselves, now!
Where do WE think God is when WE are sinning? Just as God knew what David was doing, He ALSO knows what we are doing! There is NOT ONE THING we can do that is hidden from God! There is NO PLACE on earth nor in the galaxies above us that we can go to escape the all-seeing eyes of God! He is omnipotent (ALL powerful), omnipresent (present EVERYWHERE), and omnisicient (ALL knowing). He sees and knows the very intents of our heart, before we even form them into thoughts or deeds, right now! Has He asked you to clean up some DIRTY TRICKS that you have done? Do you hear that "small, still voice" dealing with you now? Hearken to it. Make a U-Turn. Repent!
There are things in which any of us can get involved that we will NEVER forget. There are many pleasures in sin, maybe of only a few moments perhaps, but they will forever be seared into our memories! That's a part of the "sowing and reaping process"! There are many false preachers who would have you believe that once you shake their hand, your memory banks are wiped clean. Wrong! Much of the reaping that we do for the wrongs we have done goes on in our minds--otherwise known as "regrets": Why did I do that? The honest way to deal with them is to allow them to be Valued Lessons: "I'm not going THERE (doing that) any more!"
We need to be vigilant to guard our experience with God. There is NO pleasure in this entire world worth setting aside God and His Word for. Understand perfectly: the moment we start to engage in sin, we do NOT have the assurance that God is going to help us. He provided all kinds of moments for David to stop committing his sin, but David refused to make those U-Turns.
One deceitful act can call for another to cover it, then another to cover that one, and so forth. David was trapped in his sin--he knew it. He had to do something, but it was going to tell on him, so he had Uriah killed. Know this: NONE of us are any stronger than whatever it is that can take us down. Read that again--it's vital for each of us to remember: NONE of us are any stronger than whatever it is that can take us down. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Remember how "innocently" this all started with David? He stayed home from the war and took a walk upon his roof. Had he obeyed God and been where God wanted him to be, this series of events would have never taken place.
Never underestimate the power of the devil, nor of old SELF, either! The blinding, binding power of sin can take you down. Oh we don't like the message that we are to ABSTAIN FROM ALL APPEARANCE OF EVIL, do we? We strive and connive to justify that which we do: "Well, I'm not responsible for what other people think." That's not what it says. Again, it's plain and simple: Abstain from ALL APPEARANCE of evil. I Thessalonians 5:22.
Sin Is No Secret To God
Are you living a deceitful life? Proverbs 28:13 tells us, He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. Are you prospering spiritually? If not, why? It is the Will of God that we PROSPER (do well) in both soul and body. David did not get by. Ananias and Sapphira did not get by.Saul did not get by. Samson did not get by. Mark it down, if there is sin in your life, no matter how well hidden you might think it is, you will NOT get by.
Mark it down, if there is sin in your life, no matter how well hidden you might think it is, you will NOT get by.