A young man had gone camping with his father and while his father got busy building a tent, the young man decided to go fishing for a while. “Make sure you don’t get close to waters,” his father said. “I’ll be careful dad,” responded the young man. “Promise me you’ll stand on the docks son. The waters are dangerous because there might be alligators in the river.” “OK dad, I promise.” And off went the young man to fish. But the waters appeared calm. It would have been a real adventure to untie the canoe, which was just sitting near by and go off fishing in the middle of the river. “Oh my dad is such a bore. He just makes a big deal out of nothing,” thought the young man. “Besides, if I paddled the nice little canoe just for a few minutes, I’d not only be likely to catch more fish, dad would never know.”
And these thoughts raced through the young man’s mind until he finally untied the canoe and off he went fishing in the middle river. And then suddenly the huge reptile appeared and easily overturned the canoe. The father hearing the terrible screams of his young son rushed to the scene and immediately dived into the river. He managed to rescue his son but he ended up severely bitten by the reptile. As the ambulance arrived it was obvious that the father’s chances of survival were very, very slim. “Daddy, I’m so sorry,” cried the young man. “Please don’t die daddy.” And the father replied, “Son if you love me, you would obey me.” As the ambulance rushed the father off leaving the young boy crying, do you think thoughts of going back to continue fishing came back? You bet they did!
If only we stop to think of the father’s love. God loves us so much and throughout His Word, He gives us instructions on how to live for Him. But too often we’re like the young man. We think the scriptures are dated. We indulge in a little bit of this and a little bit of that. We lie and we cheat. We’re selfish and unbelieving. We’re jealous and sometimes envious. There’s gossip and malice in our midst. We do not love and honor one another. We fornicate and we cheat on our spouses. Then we get into big trouble and are full of regrets. And the Father who is full of mercy cleanses us of our sins. Not so long after those evil thoughts reappear again…. Do we allow ourselves then to fall back into sin? You know when we do; it’s like laying on the Lord all the suffering that He had to bear for us over 2000 years ago again.
The Bible says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:1-2. The truth however is as long as we are human there would always be temptation to sin. Because we know this, the thing is to focus on the Father. Let His love permeate your heart, your soul and your spirit. Let His love so consume you. It is the love of the Father that dwells in you that would give you the strength and enabling grace to walk away from sin. It is the love of the Father that would give you the grace to resist that strong temptation that you face. It is by His grace that you are able to resist falling into sin that would have been a secret sin.
If today there is sin in your life, do not feel condemned for the bible says there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Confess the sin in your life. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” 1 John 1:8
Friends, God wants to bless you. He is tired of the scandals. He is looking for vessels to pour out His treasure into. Those vessels must be pure and Holy. Let this week be a week of cleansing as God prepares you for that which He wants to do with and through you.
God bless you!
September 2004.
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