Written by Tracy Figley | CEO Strong Tower Christian Ministries
Lately, my wife Vicki and I have been trying to declutter our home. We’ve been going through all the closets and finding things that we’ve had for years, from when our children were little. In that process, I noticed something I guess I hadn’t thought about before. Little children’s play things tend to be very colorful and shiny! I’m sure that’s helpful in getting and keeping a young child’s attention. The bright and shiny catches their eye and they want it.
Unfortunately, as adults, we haven’t outgrown that fascination for the bright and shiny and the enemy of our souls knows that very well. He can dress up sin in some of the brightest colors and make it sparkle so it catches our eye and makes us want to have it. What he will never let us see is the ugly, destructive nature of that sin. If we saw that, we would never be tempted.
A number of years ago there was a popular gospel song whose chorus shed light on this:
Sin will take you farther than you want to go, slowly but wholly taking control.
Sin will leave you longer than you want to stay. Sin will cost you far more than you want to pay!
The Apostle Paul also addresses this progression of sin as he warns the Christians at Thessalonica in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15:
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
This passage gives us hope because there are several steps that happen before we fall headlong into sin and each of those steps gives us opportunity to turn away; an opportunity to recognize that what we see might not be all there is. With God’s help, we can see what’s behind all the glitz and glitter before it’s too late!
