Proverbs 1:10 My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them.
When there is a sea of humanity gathered at a concert, a monster pot-luck, or a carnival festival packed with people, my friend Jessica, with a crinkled expression of disapproval and distaste, will describe those settings as a giant germ pit. You can go to the event healthy but may not come out that way. I know what she means, as not everyone is hygienically astute and therefore, can spread many illnesses to others. This image of a giant germ pit had me thinking of how the world is a giant sin pit if we allow ourselves to be infected by multiple sinful activities and illicit desires that are available. The similarities in what Jessica was saying sounded like the father’s warnings to his son to stay away from the sin pit of society. Prov. 1:10 My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them.
We have seen over the past few years how all kinds of germs (and everything that word entails) can be caught just by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Similarly, this can take place when someone happens to be walking through or hanging around a particularly known district that caters to the sinfulness that mankind chooses to play in, pay for, or promote. Sin, iniquity, and wickedness will eventually rub off if we continue to flirt with the sins that so easily beset us. Heb. 12:1 Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We need to protect ourselves from temptation’s abundant supply of transgressions that are available all day long. The only way we will have the strength to overcome the lure of sinfulness is through the protection and power of the Holy Spirit. John 16:13a But when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will teach you all truth.
God the Father is giving us the same advice as the father is giving his son when he says, “My son if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them.” Don’t give into the many tricks and traps the enemy of our soul lays out for all to fall into. The sin pit is a difficult pit to climb out of once a person is entrenched in a life of iniquity. The scripture’s use of the words miry clay to describe the type of dark quagmire to be climbed out of is a perfect example of the hardship one can find themselves in when trying to escape the results of sinful choices.
Miry clay will hold fast to whatever is stuck in it. Its thick viscous clay will cling to whatever it touches and will leave the stench of its fermenting bog on and around the person stuck in the oozing mess. The combination of clay, filth and smell overwhelms everything a person tries to do. Getting cleaned up is an ordeal, and this is why we need the Lord Jesus to pull us free out of the whole iniquitous swamp. Psalm 40:2 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. We can be rescued because with God all things are possible. We can be delivered and healed, including being carried through the consequences of a sin-stained life. It will not be easy, but it can be done if we change our direction.
Pastor Bryan Grant says it best. “If you don’t like what you are reaping, then change what you are sowing.” If you don’t like the reek you are emanating because of a sinful life, then change what you are sowing. If you don’t like the sin pit you are stuck in, then change what you are sowing. If you don’t like the giant germ pit you have become part of, then change what you are sowing! Gal. 6:7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. This type of sinful sowing only gets worse, because eventually, the sower of corruption will reap way more grief than they ever expected. Hos. 8:7a For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.
We have to escape the old ways of life and we need to move into a new territory of righteousness that Jesus provides through His blood and sacrifice. There are sin and germ pits the world over, and we need to choose whether or not we are going to take part in what Satan is offering. Many will choose to participate in what sin has to offer, but that does not mean we have to join in. If we are in Christ, we can tear down (through faith and prayer) the strongholds that affect the weak-hearted. The weapons that God gives us are mighty in pulling down the evil spirit’s effectiveness in promoting sinfulness. By faith in Christ, we are the soldiers and ministers to do it. 2Tim. 2:3 You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
There have always been, and will always be, germ pits, sin pits, and miry clay pits to fall into. There will always be pits of despair, depression and destitution to crawl out of. We cannot effectively overcome all these pits on our own. We need the miracle work of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to fulfil our lives and help us do it righteously so that it lasts our whole life. Thank you, Lord, God, for giving us the choice to live outside of any sin-laced dark hole or deep grave that we come across in our daily walk. Thank you, Lord, for giving us Your strength to walk in Your righteousness and salvation. Amen!
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