by Don Emmitte |
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God blesses the people who patiently endure testing. Afterward they will
receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. And
remember no one who wants to do wrong should ever say, "God is
tempting me." God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts
anyone else either. Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil
desires. These evil desires lead to evil actions, and evil actions lead to
death. So don't be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. Whatever is good
and perfect comes to us from God above, who created all heaven's lights.
Unlike them, he never changes or casts shifting shadows. In his goodness
he chose to make us his own children by giving us his true word. And we,
out of all creation, became his choice possession. (James 1:12-18
NLV). Recently
I read the following story. It
started me thinking about how easily sin can become imbedded in our lives.
Dave
and his family, on vacation in northern Wisconsin, were sleeping soundly
when their dog Midnight began whining. It was five o'clock in the morning.
Dave got up, stumbled to the door, let the dog out, and then stumbled back
to bed. About half an hour later he was awakened again, this time by loud
thumping from under the cottage--as though someone was hitting the
underside of the floor with a board. Dave pulled on some clothes and went
out to investigate. At first Dave didn't see anything, but then Midnight
slowly rounded the house toward him. Bending down to the dog, Dave could
make out about a dozen quills sticking out of the dog's fur, mostly on the
side of his neck and near the back of his head. Evidently, Midnight had
gone after a porcupine under the cottage, gotten nailed with quills from
its tail, and the tussle that followed explained the thumping noises on
the floor of the cottage. Stunned, but not in any real pain, Midnight
submitted to Dave's handling. But when Dave got the pliers and tried to
pull out the quills one at a time, Midnight howled and pulled back.
Removing the quills caused excruciating pain and the dog wanted no part of
it. Dave finally took Midnight to a veterinarian in town, who anesthetized
Midnight and then surgically removed the quills. The vet explained to Dave
that although Midnight felt no pain from the quills, if they were not
removed they would eventually work their way further into his body and
head and kill him. Although the surgery was painful, the only way to save
Midnight's life was to remove the quills. 1 There
is a progression in sin. James
lists it for us in our reading this morning.
When we first are tempted often it is from the curious adventure
that it presents. The dog in
the story didn’t want to be hurt, but the porcupine represented
something it felt it had to investigate and experience.
When it was too late, the damage had already been done. Like
passing your hand over a flame, you never know how slow or close you may
move your hand to the flame without being burned until it is too late! If
you have been “stuck” by sin, let Christ remove it from your life.
Confess your sin and accept His grace of restoration today! 1.
Stll
More Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks;
Wayne Rice; Copyright, 1999; by Youth Specialties, Inc. |
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