I know in politically correct circles it’s not very chic to talk about sin. After all, we’re not supposed to impose our personal values on someone else, right?
Well, I do believe in right and wrong, and the wrong is called sin. So if you are offended by me calling something sin, it would be best for you to stop reading now.
Are you still with me? Then read this: satan…incited David to sin… (1 Chronicles 21:1).
Incited means this wasn’t a straight-up fight. Sin seldom makes a bold, in-your-face attack. Sin isn’t really an ambush. It’s sort of a whispering campaign.
Sin is an appeal to ego
Sin is a half-truth
Sin is an attempt to be subtle
Sin is so innocent looking
The Bible says satan lurks like a lion in the underbrush (1 Peter 5:8).
He waits for the perfect opportunity to strike (Luke 4:13).
satan is sneaky (Genesis 3:1).
He lies (John 8:44).
He distorts the truth (Luke 4:9-11).
That’s why I cannot give sin an inch. I have to take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5), and pull everything into the light of The Truth (John 3:20-21).
As the Israelites were attempting to settle in the Promised Land, there is a repeated phrase, “They could not drive out the ites.” (The “ites” are people like Canaanites, Hivites, Jebusites, etc.) God told them that they should completely clear the land of the ites, but they didn’t. Instead, they just subjected them to forced labor.
Oops! These small ites eventually became the downfall of Israel. The ites continued to practice their pagan worship observances, and eventually enticed the people of Israel to join them. As a result, Israel was humiliated, defeated, and carried off into captivity.
Can I make a parallel to our lives?
The Promised Land is a Christ-follower’s life in Christ. The ites are our sinful tendencies.
I know the ites are there, but it seems so difficult to remove them: the Bible uses the phrase they were determined to live in that land. So the ites are allowed to coexist, and I determine to use my willpower to make sure they stay contained.
After awhile the ites have behaved themselves. They seem harmless enough. In fact, I’ve gotten so strong, so mature, in my Christian faith, I know I’ll never give in to the pull of the ites again. I can relax a little bit now.
But the ites wait. They bide their time. They find just a crack to slowly worm their way in. Then when I am at a vulnerable time, they strike. The slave becomes the master. The ites retake possession of my life.
Willpower will not work. Only complete elimination will work.
God will help you if you will let Him.
What ites are you trying to hold down by sheer willpower?
What ites do you tolerate now that you didn’t tolerate earlier in your faith walk?
Do you think you are immune to some ites now that you are more mature?
These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don’t repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about [willpower]; it’s useless. Cultivate [God-power].
A slight case of the ites is a serious thing! Don’t let it continue!
My US Marine Corps buddy always tells me to suck it up when I complain about something hurting. He says, “Pain is just weakness leaving your body.” Hoo-Rah!
Great.
But for the most part, I don’t like pain. What about you? Most of us non-Marine-types do our best to avoid pain. And if any pain does make it through, we can take care of that really fast with some Motrin or Tylenol, or Icy Hot or a massage session.
However, there are times that some pain is good for greater gain.
What about the temporary pain from an immunization injection? Short-term pain for the long-term gain of being free of disease.
What about a low-grade fever (below 101 degrees)? Taking Tylenol too soon can preempt the natural way your body is raising the heat to kill off an infection. The short-term pain of a fever for the long-term gain of dead germs.
What about the soreness from exercising? Again, the pain is short-term; the benefits of healthy exercise are long-term.
How about saying “no” to temptation? Shouldn’t you trade the short-term pain of temptation for the long-term gain of holiness?
Or God’s discipline? He sometimes puts us in positions that are painful because He is trying to bring the best out of us. Here my Marine buddy is correct: this pain is weakness leaving our (spiritual) body.
Before you are too quick to mask the pain,stop for a moment to find out why the pain is there. An immunization or low-grade fever or exercise or discipline may be just the short-term pain you need for far greater gain.
I’m a morning person. I absolutely love getting up early and spending some quiet time alone with my Bible. This is the time of day I most absorb all that God is saying to me. It’s my most creative time too. In fact, I so love getting up early that most mornings I’m awake before my alarm clock goes off.
But not this morning.
Today my alarm clock began playing Way-FM and I felt like I was in a fog. It took me a minute or so to even open my eyes and sit up.
I was about to press ahead with my morning, when I thought, “I should sleep some more.”
You see, I’ve learned a few things about myself. When I’m tired…
I have a shorter attention span.
I’m not as creative.
I’m not as patient.
I am more prone to give in to temptation.
I make decisions that are too short-sighted.
I’m more susceptible to colds and flu.
So I re-set the alarm and slept another hour.
Sometimes a little extra sleep is one of the most important things you can do toimprove your physical health, your emotional stamina, and your spiritual maturity.
UPDATE: In my book Shepherd Leadership: The Metrics That Really Matter I have five chapters about a leader’s health—mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional health is vital to a leader’s effectiveness and longevity.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
He was ripped and he was handsome. She was lonely and she was hungry. He followed God and she gave lip-service to the numerous gods of Egypt. He was Joseph and she was Potiphar’s wife. He was in charge of all of Potiphar’s household and she was attracted to that power.
A pretty heady place for Joseph to be. Think about it, guys, how would you feel? You’re good looking, successful, and the object of some babe’s desire. What are you going to do with all of that?
And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.
Or even be with her is a rude phrase. It means she was doing everything she could think of to bring him to her, and he was thwarting her at every turn:
She walked into a room; he walked out.
She planned her path to run into him; he went out of his way to change his route.
She smiled; he kept a straight-faced.
She flirted; he ignored.
She was persistent; he was consistent.
There are many temptations the Bible tells us to fight. But there are two that we’re advised to flee: idolatry and sexual immorality.
Joseph chose fleeing over fighting.
Solomon said, “When you know what that sort of woman is up to, don’t even walk down her street.”
Talk to Wisdom as to a sister. Treat Insight as your companion. They’ll be with you to fend off the Temptress—that smooth-talking, honey-tongued Seductress.
Jesus said, “Don’t even entertain any thoughts about that kind of woman.”
From this type of temptation, your best fight is flight.
Guys, be like Joseph: stay away, take a different path, don’t smile at the flirty jokes, don’t hang out at her desk, don’t treat her politely. RUN AWAY.
Flight is your best fight against sexual temptation.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
My youngest son showed up at the dinner table one evening with a swollen left eyelid. I looked at it a little more closely and could see what looked to be a bug bite in the corner of his eye.
“No big deal,” I thought. “It’s just a mosquito bite. Happens all the time in Michigan.” (After all the mosquito is slated to become our new state bird!)
But when he woke up the next morning, his left eye was only open a slit. By the time I got him to the urgent care, his eyelid was a deep pink color and he was feeling very lethargic.
Guess what? It’s not such a little thing anymore!
Frequently I hear people saying, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” And I suppose to a certain extent that’s true. But typically the big stuff started off as the little stuff. Usually big problems are simply little problems that weren’t dealt with earlier.
Someone says, “My marriage failed last night” (big stuff). But the small warning signs had been there for months, but they weren’t taken care of.
Someone says, “My finances just hit rock bottom” (big stuff). But the small unnecessary purchases over time led to this moment.
Someone says, “I gave in to temptation” (big stuff). But the little flirting with the temptation created just the right environment for the big tumble.
Charles Simmons wrote —
“Life is made up of little things. It is very rarely that an occasion is offered for doing a great deal at once. True greatness consists in being great in the little things.”
On the flip side, rarely is a big problem presented all at one; it’s usually just the little things compounded over time.
The apostle Paul warned the church at Corinth about the little things that can blow up into the big things:
Your flip and callous arrogance in these things bothers me. You pass it off as a small thing, but it’s anything but that. Yeast, too, is a “small thing,” but it works its way through a whole batch of bread dough pretty fast. So get rid of this “yeast.” (1 Corinthians 5:6-7, The Message paraphrase)
A final thought from Paul to his protégé Timothy: “Keep a close watch on how you live” (1 Timothy 4:16 NLT). Great advice!
By the way, my son was fine after a little steroid treatment and some Benadryl, but some people never recover from their lack of attention to the little things.
Don’t let this happen to you! Watch out for the little things because you may find that they’re not so little after all!
I know in politically correct circles it’s not very chic to talk about sin. After all, we’re not supposed to impose our personal values on someone else, right?
Craig T. Owens 