Crisis and Opportunity

Proverbs 5:22 - His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be held with the cords of his sins.

    The world we live in and, sadly, many sectors of the church,do not like to even acknowledge that sin exists and still has power. Many laugh and mock at the idea of sin but, if all of us were honest; we would admit there is an unseen and undetected power that tempts and drives men to commit horrendous and shameful acts against ourselves and one another. We can say that we don’t believe in poison but we will die if we ingest it regardless of our beliefs. In the final analysis men will suffer the consequences of continuing in their sin. Responsibility rests with the individual to choose the wisdom of God in avoiding certain evils. 

    In this very pointed chapter of Proverbs, we have frank and straight forward instruction and warning to shun sexual sin of every form. The strange and seductive woman has boldly come into our homes through the television and the computer screen, and we are the ones who have opened the door. We are the consumer, we are the reason that pornography and all sexually explicit material sells. We are the purchasers of sin. Iniquity is the power that holds men and keeps men shackled within a prison of addiction and weakness. Why does man do the things that he does? How can man treat himself and his fellow man and woman with such lack of respect and value? It could only be because of iniquity, which is the power within our fallen natures that clearly exhibits that something has gone terribly wrong. It is the propensity and the tendency to crave what we do not have. It shows itself in the fact that we are attracted to things that will eventually destroy us. Someone has written that habits are first threads then cables; easily broken at first and almost impossible to break later. We form the habit and then the habit forms us. 

    Sin is a powerful and compelling force that always has and always will entice men of all ages and all cultures. Sins' insidious power pervades and reaches to the highest levels and echelons of our society and it dives down into the lowest and darkest sectors of our culture; it is no respecter of persons; sin hates all men equally, Christian and non-Christian alike. Satan is the archenemy of God and the nemesis of mankind. He despises man; he deviously delights in the destruction of everything that is good and fair and kind.     Eventually if a sin is persisted in, the cords of that sin will hold the man captive. It will control the man and keep him in a cursed state. Regardless of what it looks like on the outside, he will be continually wrapped up, entangled and confined to a very tiny space, when all the while it is the will of God for that man to be blessed and free and ever-expanding in prosperity and influence. Sin, especially sexual sin, keeps men from becoming all that God intended for us. It restrains mature character and the full expression of the image of God. It diminishes true manhood. It promises much but delivers little. It is deceptive by nature and destructive in result. All of us need a Saviour; one who will free us from all iniquity and, thank God, Jesus has already done it! The power of sin has been neutralized. The shackles of sin have been broken. The prison doors are open. Captive humanity is now free to go. Why would we continue to stay inside?

    The crisis of life come to all of us, whether it be in the form of a sickness, the loss of a job, the end of a marriage or the shock of a fallen brother. When we find ourselves in turmoil because of a crisis, we have an opportunity to re-evaluate and re-examine our lives, and take a close and prayerful look at our spiritual condition. I want to exhort you to take advantage of this opportunity, as I am doing, and as Isaiah has exhorted us; 

 "Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous person his thoughts. Let him return to the LORD, So he'll have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he'll pardon abundantly." Is.55:6,7