ROMANS 7:11 – For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.
THEME OF THE DAY. THE DECEPTIVE POWER OF SIN. A family were missionaries in an African country. One day, their daughter was playing in the yard outside of their home and noticed a beautiful “string of jewels” glistening in the sun. She had been taught not to touch anything that did not belong to her. Obeying her parents, she ran into the house saying, “Daddy and Mommy, please come outside. I found a wonderful “string of jewels” in the grass. Following her to the spot, her father saw this beautiful “string of jewels” and immediately moved his wife and child out of its way. Yes, it was beautiful, but it was the bright sparkling marks of a deadly coral snake whose bite is often fatal.
Sin is like the coral snake appearing as a harmless, beautiful “string of jewels.” It promises pleasure but only delivers pain. It promises satisfaction only to leave a life of guilt, regret and remorse. It promises to fulfil one’s longings for fulfillment and companionship only to leave one disappointed, discouraged, disillusioned, and lonely. Sin never accomplishes anything good and its masterful skill of deception comes in many ways. Let’s consider two.
First, sin deceives us to think that living our way, not God’s way, is the path to happiness and contentment. The book of Judges sadly ends with these words, “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). Two of the most deceiving things a person may do, both influenced and guided by sin, is to trust one’s heart and follow one’s feelings. Friends, just because something seems right to do in our own understanding, don’t do it. We are told never to rely upon our understanding (Proverbs 3:5). We place ourselves in sin’s deceptive way if we live life and make decisions independently, leaning on what we think is right. The other thing we are never to do is trust one’s feelings or trust our heart. This is popular in both the secular world and even among Christians. The sayings go something like this, “Trust your heart’s desires”, “Pursue your heart’s dreams”, and “Listen to your heart and follow it.” The language of the Bible, though, is basically, “NO, NO, NO, never trust your heart. It is as unreliable as water.” In fact, the prophet Jeremiah describes the heart in vivid words to make sure we never look to our heart for anything good – “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). And remember, as Christians, we are to love God with all our heart, but never to trust our heart for anything.
Another way sin deceives us is drawing us to a state of “spiritual amnesia”. When we start entertaining temptation by listening to its promise of pleasure, we forgot our theology and particularly, God’s omniscience. The moment sin is played with, our awareness of God’s presence goes out the window. Oh, we will feel the dove-like voice of the Spirit whispering, “Danger. Don’t go there” when sin crouches at the door of our heart, but if we ignore Him, then silence comes followed by a sense of God’s presence lost. If we arrive at this stage of forgetting God, sin will rush in like a flood and the damage will be significant. And we will find ourselves in the land of sad regret crying out, “Why did I do this? Why did I give into the deception of my sin?”
My friends, we praise the Lord Jesus from delivering us from sin’s penalty and in the future, sin’s presence. Sin’s domineering power in our lives has been broken, but it still maintains its deceptiveness in our hearts. Remember, there will be no day this side of heaven that sin does not seek to work its deceptive and destructive ways in our lives.
PRAYER: “Father, help me to see the danger and deception of sin and never place myself in its harmful way.”
QUOTE: “Sin promises pleasures but only delivers pain.”