“Don’t be misled – you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So let us not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.” (Galatians 6:7-9 NLT)
Sin loses its grip when we learn to love Jesus more than we love our sin. I’m old, but I’m not blind, there are still women I find attractive; however, because of my love for Jesus and my devotion to my wife, I never look twice. Pondering leads to lust and lust leads in all kinds of sinful directions.
We must not deceive ourselves into believing “it doesn’t matter where I get my appetite as long as I eat at home!” You must not believe for a second that your spouse isn’t aware that your mind is not on them, whatever you’re doing. Sin flows from the heart and mind, and certainly involves the body, but to believe we can sin in our thoughts and not violate God’s law is to misunderstand the God who sees, hears, and understands everything, even our thoughts.
J.C. Ryle gives us insight when he writes: “Young men, be not deceived. Think not you can, at will, serve lusts and pleasures in your beginning, and then go and serve God with ease at your latter end.” The more we cloud our mind with evil, regardless of our age, the more clouded our judgment when it comes to sin. Things we know intellectually are completely wrong, seem oh so right when our emotions take over.
Why are we so quick to believe the lies of Satan? Could it be because we starve our mind of God’s Words found in the Bible. Remember what Jesus did when Satan confronted Him with temptation? With every threat Jesus countered with the words of Scripture. Are we to do any less? But we can’t bring to remembrance what isn’t stored in our memory.
To me it’s very simple? Who do you love most? Jesus? Your spouse? Yourself? Who you love will lead your heart and where your heart goes, so goes your thoughts. And where your thoughts go, so goes your life. Satan’s primary tool of deception is our mind. If he can get us to believe wrong thoughts, it’s a very short step to wrong actions.
God’s heart is for us to follow Him closely, that’s why He lives in us as His child. He guides and guards our thoughts, but He will not force us to think in line with His ways, we must want that for ourselves. But what does it look like to think God’s thoughts? It looks much like what He’s recorded in His Word, the Bible.
Saturate your mind with His words of Scripture. Don’t just read them, meditate on them, memorize them, talk to others about them, make them a part of your daily life. Post a verse on your mirror to memorize and guide you through your day. Post a verse(s) on your frig to remind you to cherish God’s Word in your heart and to feed your soul on His holy words.
Deception is Satan’s plan and our only defense is God’s Words empowered by God’s Spirit released in and through our heart and mind. “Don’t be misled – you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.” What are you planting in your heart and mind?
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 