Gift-wrapped Garbage

I was enjoying a movie early Sunday afternoon when suddenly it dawned on me just how much obscene language was in it. And, even though the story-line was very interesting I chose to change the channel. You see, it made me think of how easy it is to allow the things of this world to pollute our minds and I felt, that as a Christian, it was disrespecting the Holy Spirit of God living inside me. 

Perhaps we’ve grown so accustomed to the corruption of this world that it’s now considered the norm and our senses have become numb to it. Too often we, as Christians, compromise – saying things like, “it’s just a little bit of cursing, or vulgarity, or obscenity, or whatever the case may be” – but it’s time to take a stand. Oftentimes our response to sin and those things that can cause us to “fall into evil” (see Proverbs 17:20) is diluted to an attitude of indifference. That’s not good enough, it’s a cop-out. It’s either God’s way or the world’s way, we cannot be carnal lukewarm Christians, neither cold nor hot (see Revelation 3:15-16).

Proverbs 8:13 (AMP) tells us, “The [reverent] fear and worshipful awe of the Lord includes the hatred of evil”. God hates evil – He hates the sin but loves the sinner with a redemptive love.

If our reverential fear of God is genuine then we need to be very mindful about what we give access to, hating sin as much as God does; it’s not any and every thing we should allow to enter into our hearts and minds. Yes, it’s difficult to avoid certain images and influences but we need not have them cling to us. We must be vigilant to turn our eyes away from all those worthless and meaningless things that distract (see Psalm 119:37).

Understand that Satan is very skillful in disguising sin – he makes it interesting, inviting, and entertaining. A master of subtlety, he wraps sin up like an irresistible present, making it so appealing that you commit sin without even realizing that that’s what you’re doing. But sin is gift-wrapped garbage designed to lure, corrupt and eventually destroy. 

Today, let us pray that God will give us the power of discernment, so that we may quickly recognize Satan’s gift-wrapped garbage and not be deceived by its shiny packaging. Let us pray that God would teach us His way of hating sin yet loving the sinner, for we have all sinned and fall terribly short of His glory, but praise be to God, by the gift of His grace, we are put right with Him through Jesus Christ (see Romans 3:23-24).

Amen†

Gift-wrapped Garbage    Shelley Johnson 17-Jul-2016