Hear, Repent and Be Saved

If you have been a Christian for very long, you have been surprised a few times by the level of sin that a Christian friend or family member has fallen into, even though you once knew them as a godly person. Also, if you have been a Christian for very long, you may have stopped being surprised by this. It happens with some regularity. It is always sad and somewhat shocking but not so surprising anymore.

         The spiral of sin happens by degrees. A man rarely cheats on his wife at the first opportunity. A woman rarely leaves her husband given the first chance. A teen does not usually  fall into great mischief with his friends on the first night. The husband falls into discontentment and sin a little bit at time, one lie at a time, one justification at a time, and then it is done. The wife spins the record in her head of the perfect husband, which is not her own, long before she ever acts on the fantasy. She may read a book, talk to her friends, complain until she is a martyr in her own eyes and then she is gone. A teen plays with sin before he rides away in its car.

         I’ve seen this play and it always starts with a seemingly insignificant act. But sin is like yeast. It grows. It must be beaten down or it gets out of control. And the way you know it is out of control is when the word of God comes to slay it and you find yourself at odds with God’s Word, God’s people, God’s ministers. If you refuse to hear them, your last state will be worse than the first. You fight grace with excuses that you like to call reasons. 

Wake up. Stop deceiving yourself. Hear, repent and be saved.