Danger Danger

The other morning I woke up thinking of the bible verses about Cain. The Lord warns Cain:

“If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” Genesis 4:7

I had a picture of sin as a lion crouching at the door just waiting to pounce and so I was very intrigued when that morning I saw a post by Alan at Devotional Treasures called Being in Him with a picture of lions in a safari park and warning us about the folly of not being aware of danger.

Alan said “I have seen this many times over the years with some believers in their walk with God; they dismiss the threats of evil before them only to be devoured by it later on”.

Then Andy also posts about the Great sin of Cain on the same day.

This wasn’t coincidence to me and it got my attention. I believe the Holy Spirit is speaking to us and warning us not to be ignorant of the dangers of sin and it’s effect on our walk with Jesus. We must actively resist sin and deal with it especially as the Lord warns us it’s desire is to have us and ensnare us.

The Apostle Paul tells us to:

“lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus” Hebrews 12:1

Sin can easily ensnare us because we all have our own weaknesses and temptations. We live our lives out in a generally hostile environment. We are in the world but no longer of the world. If we think we are immune to the temptation of sin then we are being unwise.

However, we should not be ignorant of this says Paul and of the enemies’ strategies against us. We have been equipped to deal with sin. As the Lord said to Cain – you should rule over sin.

So let us take captive the wrong thoughts, crucify our flesh, put on the armour of God, stand firm in our faith and pray. We keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and follow His example of endurance and we rely on the power of God through the Holy Spirit working in us to help us overcome our weaknesses. We submit to God and resist the enemy. The Lord will through His grace provide a way of escape for us.

We are no longer slaves to sin because of Jesus’ victory over sin. Through Christ’s victory we too can rule over sin. When we fall we can get up again. We have forgiveness in Jesus.

These are not passive responses as we can see but require us as disciples of Jesus to take action. Be vigilant we are told in Scripture. Deal with sin. Don’t let it get a foothold in our lives.

The expression “playing with fire” came to me whilst writing this post.

Dear reader, if you or someone you know is “playing with fire” thinking they won’t get burnt by the danger of sin and putting themselves in temptations’ way. Stop – realise the danger you or they are in with regards to any sin or temptation to sin and turn around, repent and get out of it quick. Don’t delay.

Please stop playing with fire or you will get burnt.

Photo by Raúl Nájera on Unsplash