Do You Really Want to Be a Slave to Sin?
Rand Hummel
This Is What God Says
He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life. (Prov. 7:22, 23)
Now Think about It
Straightway, immediately, all at once, without fighting the temptation at all, he chased after that which he thought would satisfy his sexual desires, with as much sense as an ox that hurries towards the butcher who has some tasty grain in one hand to lure him and a knife in the other ready to take his life from him, or as a nonthinking deer that steps into a bear trap, holding him captive until the hunter shoots his bow, sending an arrow of death straight through his liver, or as a bird that flies straight into a snare, not knowing that the hunter put the snare in that very place to catch and kill him.
How Can This Affect Me?
Those caught up in sexual addiction are quite impulsive. They act first and think later. When they are faced with any sexual temptation, from filthy pornography to a promiscuous person, they “straightway” run to the sin without any thought of the consequences. All they desire is that instant satisfaction the flesh so deceitfully cries for. They are blinded to the fact that you cannot sin and win. The immoral butcher is ready to slit the person’s throat, and the seducing hunter has his arrow ready to fly through the heart of the unsuspecting sexual addict. Satan will kill and destroy every man or woman he can get his wicked hands on. He uses immorality as the bait, and, sad to say, often bags his limit. Satan would love to add you to his list of trophies. He wants you dead.
This Is What God Says
But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. … Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children. … For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. (2 Peter 2:10, 14, 18, 19)
Now Think about It
God will be especially hard on those who walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, follow their own evil, corrupt, lustful desires, and despise all authority or anyone who tries to tell them that they are in sin. They are presumptuous, proud, bold, and so arrogant that they are not afraid to speak evil of, slander, or scoff anyone. They feast their eyes on adultery through pornographic magazines, movies, and Internet sites, and are so addicted to committing adultery and fornication in their minds they cannot quit or cease from sin; they beguile, seduce, entice, and make a game of getting unstable, weak, and unsuspecting people to join them in their filthy immorality; they have exercised their hearts through hours of practicing their sin and have become experts in greed and covetousness, desiring people and pleasures God never intended them to have; and even though they may not know it, they have made choices that could doom and curse them for eternity. For when they speak great swelling words of vanity and brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting, they try to allure or coax others to be involved in their sin by appealing to their fleshly desires. These are the ones who are trying so hard to escape from following such empty, lewd, and fleshly lifestyles. While those who are addicted to habitual, sexual sin promise them freedom and liberty, trying to make them believe that they are free to live out any sexual desire they have, they themselves are slaves to their sexual idols and servants of their depravity and corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage, for you are a slave to whatever controls you.
How Can This Affect Me?
Not only do those consumed with sexual sin have filthy minds, they are out of their minds! They don’t think clearly! They think they are free to do whatever they want but cannot see that they are actually slaves. They have lied to themselves, justifying their own sin so many times that they think they are doing others a favor by getting them to join them in their sin. They choose not to think about the first few words of 2 Peter 2:10. God is going to be especially hard in the way He deals with them. They may believe they are free and having fun, but their judgment day is quickly approaching. Can you imagine what it will be like for those who spend their entire lives satisfying fleshly desires to someday explain their choices to God?
This Is What God Says
As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly. (Prov. 26:11)
Now Think about It
As a dog goes back and eats its own vomit, so a fool repeats his foolish sin over and over again.
How Can This Affect Me?
This has got to be one of the grossest pictures of habitual sin I can think of. The cycle never stops. A dog eats, gets sick, throws up in the grass, eats it again, gets sick again, throws it up again, eats it again, etc. A dog never seems to learn. Even if it hates eating its own vomit, it still does it over and over again. Those on the edge of sexual addiction do the same thing. Even though they sometimes hate what they’re doing, they do it anyway. These are the individuals who go to God over and over again asking for forgiveness for the ten-thousandth time. The constant repetition of the same sin not only reveals a man’s foolishness and weakness; it also reveals his real heart’s desire. He obviously loves himself and his sin much more than he loves his God. That is why he goes back to his nauseating sin over and over and over. If you, like the dog we read about today, constantly go back to the same habitual sin, you are headed for a big fall. Repeating the same sick sin over and over again should make you sick. It makes God sick.
Do you really want to be a slave to sin?
Rand Hummel is the director of The WILDS of New England in Deering, New Hampshire.
(Originally published in FrontLine • March / April 2007. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.)