"Trapped by Sin" October 30 Readings: Ezekiel 5-6, 1 Timothy 3, Psalm 119:81–88, Proverbs 26:17–19

Today's Readings - Ezekiel 5-6, 1 Timothy 3, Psalm 119:81–88, Proverbs 26:17–19 

Devotional - Trapped by Sin

"I never thought it would happen to me."

How many Christians who have fallen into sin have uttered those words? They were sure that the foibles and failings that had taken others over the edge would never tear them down. But they did. I remember sitting in my office talking to a man, a spiritual leader, a pastor, who had compromised his marriage, his ministry, and his integrity. I asked him how it happened, what the warning signs were. He was befuddled. Never in his life did he ever imagine that he would make the kind of a mess of things that he ended up making.

That is the nature of sin. I don't know who the first person to say this was, but I've heard it all my life.

Sin takes you farther than you want to go.
It keeps you longer than you want to stay.
It costs you more than you want to pay. 

People start out thinking, "It's no big deal - just a small compromise. I can handle it." Then suddenly, like the fish who nibbles at the lure, he is suddenly hooked and unable to get away.

Ezekiel 5 discusses the judgment of God on Jerusalem in a passage like dozens other. God's people have turned from him to live like the nations around them and even done greater wickedness (verse 6) than those nations - likely because as the people of God who had the law they were held to a higher standard. God was about to bring his judgment down on them for their wickedness.

When I read verse 10, it slapped me in the face. It is a disgusting thought which reveals the depths to which sin can take us.

As a result, fathers will eat their sons within Jerusalem, and sons will eat their fathers. 

It doesn't get much worse than that, does it? Cannibalism. Family cannibalism. Despicable and disgusting - something none of us would ever want to even imagine. And it is something no one in Israel ever considered doing. They were decent people, not perverts. This kind of unnatural act was not on the radar.

But that is the nature of sin. You start out sticking your toe in. Nothing big. Then, you go in a little farther. Another step. Then another. Pretty soon you are up to your neck and you are paddling for all you are worth to keep your head above water. Then, you are sinking into the depths. Sin takes you farther than you ever imagined you could go. That is why it is never worth it to dabble in sin. Maybe you will never dig to the depths that God prophesied these Israelites would go, but you will go farther than you want, and the price will be higher than you can imagine.

Jesus Christ went to the Cross so that you could be not only forgiven for your sin but freed from slavery to it, so that you and I could live in victory over the hold of sin. Why would we wander the paths of sin, risking the sad slavery of sin when Christ came to break the grip of sin?

Father, may I never accept less than the victory over and freedom from sin's power than you sent your Son to give me day by day. 

Think and Pray

Which of the readings spoke most powerfully to you today?
Is the Spirit of God moving you to repent of something you are doing, to begin something new, or to change something about your life as a result of your readings? What?

Do you compromise and play games with sin and temptation?
Is your walk with Christ marked by careful holiness?
Can you remember a time in your life when you played with sin and got trapped?