Thursday, August 10, 2006

Setting ourselves up to sin



You probably remember the incident recorded in 2 Sam. 6 when King David first tried to moved the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. Instead of moving the ark as God commanded (4 Levites carrying it by the poles, once it had been covered by the High Priest), David placed the ark on a new cart. In doing so, they set themselves up to sin. As the oxen pulled the cart the sons of Abinadab, Uzzah & Ahio, are walking beside and in front of the ark, respectively. When they came to the threshing floor of Nachon the oxen stumble and the ark seems to be falling. Without thinking, Uzzah puts out his hand to steady the ark and God strikes him dead for his irreverence.

When did the sin begin? Not when Uzzah touched the ark. No, it began when they failed to follow God's orders as to how to move the ark. In doing so, they made it almost impossible not to sin.

Are we any different today? How often do we set ourselves up to sin? We know that certain friends influence us to sin, yet we continue to spend time with them. You know yourself well enough to know that when we're in a situation where everyone else is drinking it is hard for you to resist the temptation to drink, but you still put yourself in that situation. You know that certain brethren can't stop gossiping and you know you will be soon be joining in, yet you still keep their company. When you marry a non-Christian you are putting yourself in a situation that has great potential to lead you away from God.

The Scriptures tell us to avoid evil, to flee the very appearance of evil, etc. We are told to pray that we may be delivered from evil. If we pray this, should we consistently put ourselves into compromising situations?

Tol

1 comment:

John Maddocks said...

Amen! May we all learn this valuable lesson, and keep ourselves from temptation.