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Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Temptation

"Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master"
Genesis 4: 7

When do you think we recognize sin in our life? Do we recognize it when it is crouching at our door, do we recognize it when it is whispering and tempting us....or do we wait until it is controling us?

I believe most of us wait.
These words stood out at me today...sin, described here with such life...ready to pounce, ready to control. And when God told Cain he must "subdue" it...how does one go about subduing sin? Are we able to in our own strength?

I think a beginning point for us is recognizing it. Sin seems to almost always begin in our thoughts. Whispers that make us think there is something better, something easier, something sweeter, something beneficial....but if it doesn't line up with God's word, then we should turn from it. So, can we subdue it on our own...no. We need God, His word. We need to be able to turn to Him, ask him for His help. But like Cain, Eve and Adam....sometimes we get caught up in the web of deception. It doesn't happen with bright lights and warning signals...it slips in quite secretively.

When I envision sin crouching at a door, I think of my cats. When they are prowling, crouching in position....they hide behind a corner, they watch from where they are, they are in position and waiting for the perfect moment. That is how sin would be....waiting, watching...and pouncing at the most opportune time. And if we are not careful, alert and on guard...it captures us. And we won't recognize it has control...until it does have control.

To be ready, we need to be in fellowship...with Christ, with other believers. We need faith. We need the encouragement. We need to be in the Word. All of these things, these are things we use to subdue sin.

All too often, we don't share the temptations we face with others. We try to handle them on our own. We are embarrassed by them. We need to realize we all have sin at our steps, crouching, waiting. We can't give sin its opportune time. We need to have strong barriers between us and sin. Those barriers include other Christians, the Word and prayer in faith.

So, let us be ready, alert and on guard. Let us watch out for others.

May you always find salt and light in my words.

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