“But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in Me to fall into sin. It would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck. (Mark 9:42 NLT)
As a father, especially when my kids were small, one of the things that got the fur on the back of my neck to stand up the fastest, was for someone to put my child in harm’s way or to threaten them in some way. Think of the momma bear who will spare no fury if she feels someone, or something is threatening her babies.
In the verse above, do you know to whom Jesus was referring when He spoke of “these little ones?” You, my friend, He was speaking of YOU! If you’ve put your trust in Jesus and someone is trying to get you to do something you know in your heart is wrong, they’re treading on very thin ice. But what if that “someone” IS you?
How do you think the Lord views the things we allow to stand between us and Him? And, no, I’m not suggesting He’s going to toss us in the sea, but in a very real sense, that’s what we’re doing to ourselves. We’re jumping off a Cruise ship at night in the middle of the ocean without a life-vest. It may take us a while to go down, but the odds aren’t good we’re going to survive.
Do I mean we’re going to lose our salvation? You can’t lose what you never had and the way some professing believers live gives cause to wonder if they ever really knew the Lord. But to the point, we shoot ourselves in the proverbial foot when we dabble in sin and think it won’t affect us. And yes, of course, addictions can be very hard to break, but do they have to be?
Our fierce Father will fight just as powerfully WITH us as He will FOR us. The only way to break an addiction is to put something in its place. We’re creatures of habit, so, we must learn to replace a bad habit with a good one. My addiction to lust wouldn’t go away until I stopped “feeding” it. Otherwise, it’s like putting grass killer on the grass we’re trying to get to grow. We’re defeating our own efforts.
How do you change to a healthy habit? Get help! First, confess your need to Jesus and enlist His help. If you don’t already have a regular time set aside to feed your mind on God’s Word, get it started. But habits, like New Year’s Resolutions, are short lived unless and until you get someone or some others to join you.
I’m a lot more likely to do something if I know someone’s going to be knocking on my door or ringing my phone and asking me why I’m not where I should be or doing what I should be doing. Jeremy Treat wrote: “The Lord is just and joyful. He is a fierce warrior because He is a compassionate Father.” The Lord cuts us a lot of slack when He knows we’re trying hard to be more like Him.
We’re not perfect and won’t be until heaven, but in the meantime, we need to be about our Father’s business. In this season of my life, I have very few distractions because I realize I’m on the “clock,” and it just keeps ticking. Whatever I’m going to allow the Lord to accomplish through me has to be today, because I have no promise of tomorrow.
And if my focus is on doing what pleases and honors the Lord, guess what? I’m not focused on what pleases and honors me! And here’s the bottom line – you’re on the clock, too! Every second you waste dabbling in sin is a second you’ve been unfaithful and unfruitful for your Savior? Is it really worth it?
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 