James 4:7
My sweet Labrador is a very smart dog. As an 8 month old
puppy, she was very observant. She noticed that every time my husband or I
wanted to open the gate in our backyard, we would pull a string on the latch.
She watched and soon learned how to open the gate. One morning while we were
sound asleep, Chloe opened the gate and escaped. Off she ran, right down our
street to a very busy road. Without stopping, she ran across the road and was
hit by a truck. We rushed her to a veterinarian; and after surgery and a long
recovery, Chloe was almost back to normal. Chloe opened a gate she should never
have opened, and she suffered greatly as a result.
There are some doors that are meant to remain shut. In
Genesis 4, Cain was angry with his brother, Abel. Abel’s sacrifice had been
accepted by God. However, Cain’s sacrifice had not been accepted; and so, Cain
began to sulk and scheme against his brother. God came to Cain with a warning:
…sin is crouching at your door; it
desires to have you, but you must master it (Gen 4:7). Sin is pictured as a
person crouching, waiting for the perfect opportunity to seize its victim. Cain
did not heed God’s warning. Instead, he opened the door of temptation and
sinned. He killed his brother and then experienced God’s punishment.
You and I encounter doors daily that should not be opened.
Behind those doors of temptation, sin is crouching, waiting, ready to seize us.
It might be the sin of lying, jealousy, hatred, laziness, gluttony, greed, or
even adultery. Once the door is open, how difficult it is to resist the sin! We
are easily seized.
So believer, stay away from that door! Don’t focus your
attention upon it. Certainly, don’t touch it; and by all means, don’t open it!
Shut that door; keep out the devil! Instead, open the door of truth (the
Bible). Open the door of fellowship with God. Open the door of prayer for
strength to resist the temptation.
Jan Burkhart
No comments:
Post a Comment