Are you a Christian? Are you one of God’s people?
O.K. Now…do you have a little pet sin that you are allowing in your life?
Just one little area that you are holding back from complete surrender to God?
Why would you do that? Because it’s exciting? Because it’s fun? Because God will make you give it up and you don’t want to?
My friend, remember the thrill of being close to God! There is no higher high than being close to your Creator, your Heavenly Father, your Savior. There is no sin, no suspect activity, nothing on the fringes that will do you any good.
If you are toying with this certain sin in your life, beware. It will destroy you. If you think it’s O.K. If you think this one little thing won’t destroy you because everything else in your life is generally in line…good job…good home…don’t be fooled…one drop of poison poisons the whole drink.
Sin is not to be toyed with. Plus…it is a lie! It is not what you are making it out to be. It will thrill you, then the thrill will quickly turn to torture…and if you don’t surrender it to God, it will eventually kill you.
Stop and think…this sin in your life…can’t you feel its corrosive nature? With Christ you are like stainless steel…His forgiveness and grace make you clean and strong. But when you harbor a sin in your life, rust begins…and weakness.
We are not strong people. Sin is a temptation for everyone. That is why we must fall on our knees in surrender to Christ our King each day. Have you fallen on your knees today in surrender to Christ your King? Don’t be too “big” to lift your hands to God and say, “I give up. I surrender.” Remember the old hymn, “All to Jesus, I surrender, all to Thee I freely give…”
Give it all up to Jesus now…and that includes this pet sin of yours. I mean…listen to me…even if it is fun…don’t you feel the dark side of it? Don’t you see the looming crash in the future? Listen and heed this warning today!
Now God is gracious and kind…but he hates sin and He does not put up with it. Some people think God is so loving that He will let a little sin slide. Not at all! It is precisely BECAUSE He loves us so much that he is so hard on sin. Sin kills. Sin maims. It hurts people. It destroys marriages. Sin crushes families. It wipes out businesses. It splits churches….it never does a bit of good…never! That is why God hates it so much, and when push comes to shove, He will use explosive means to wipe it out.
God is talking to you right now. He wants to cleanse you of this sin. Turn to Him right now and ask for forgiveness. Repent…turn from all sin..and toward Him. This is not a game. God, your Heavenly Father loves you, but you are like a child standing in the middle of the street, and the truck of sin is bearing down on you. He is calling to you to get out of the middle of the street…and He is raising His voice, can’t you hear it getting louder and louder? And He is getting angry that you are not listening. That’s right, God gets angry when He sees His children not listening and not obeying.
There is a horrifying text in Ezekiel 24:13 – The Lord says to His people: “I tried to cleanse you but you would not be cleansed…”