Did you know that when we have unresolved sin issues in our life, our first tendency is NOT… to run to God; on the contrary, we tend to go in the other direction, which would be opposite from the ‘light’.

Do you remember what Adam and Eve did after they ate off that one tree they were told not to eat from, and then they heard God’s voice calling for them? They ran and hid in some trees or bushes. (Gen. 3:8). They ‘saw their nakedness…and were afraid’.

When Peter had his first personal encounter with Jesus, what was his response? He fell to his knees begging Jesus to depart from him for he was a sinful man. (Luke 5:8)

Sin has a way of doing that…driving a wedge between us and God. In fact, we are told that it is our sins that ‘separate us from God’ (Isa. 59:2). So if/when we do sin, it does indeed bring a ‘barrier’ of sorts as our heart becomes conflicted, unsure as to what to do in those moments after we commit a transgression.

Think in terms of getting a bee sting or a bug bite, and the longer we neglect tending to the wound, numbness can begin to set in to the affected area, as the ‘poison’ spreads through our blood system. I cannot underscore enough the significance of what transpires immediately after a sin, in any form or ‘size’…is committed. Sin is what ‘opens the door’ … and ‘gives place, (or a foothold) to the enemy’ (Eph. 4:27). And that is all he needs, which is probably why Jesus recommends that we ‘go and sin no more lest something worse happens to you’ (John 5:14). Remember…we are ‘not ignorant of his (devil’s) schemes’ (2 Cor. 2:11).

Another word picture that is provided in Eph. 6:16 mentions using the ‘shield of faith to quench the fiery darts of the wicked one’. When you ‘take a direct hit’, maybe a word of offense is spoken to you, and you pause or cease from ‘resisting the devil’ (James 4:7; 1 Pet. 5:9), you’ll know it. By not resisting… failing to ‘bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ’ (2 Cor. 10:5)…then comes the flood of thoughts to excuse or justify the action you are taking, maybe seeking retaliation… which is only going to complicate things for you. Care to guess why Jesus advised ‘walking two miles’ if someone bid you to go one? (Matt. 5:41)

Some translations refer to those fiery darts as ‘flaming arrows’, which immediately conjures up images from old western movies, or even medieval films where a flaming arrow lodges into a thatch roof of a home or building. If you don’t extinguish those flames quickly, the whole place will burn down.

Please keep in mind here, that I’m writing this to people who have a genuine desire to follow and abide in Jesus. To be on this path means you have committed your heart to loving God more than anything else in this world, thus fulfilling the single greatest and most important commandment. (Matt. 22:37). Part of the reasons for these ‘temptations’ and/or even the ‘attacks’…is a way in which God will ‘test our hearts’, which is why we are to ‘think them not strange’ when they occur. ( 1 Pet. 4:12-14; Deut. 8:2; 1 Thess. 2:5; James 1:2-4).

Have you ever noticed, when you committed a sin, did something that you knew God was not pleased with…and you really did not repent from, or confess that sin to God…how ‘easier’ it was to commit that same act...the next time? We are warned in scripture to be careful when it comes to such matters. Take a look at Heb. 3:12-13:

“Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin”.

It’s that ‘hardening of heart’, that can happen so subtly and gradually, where you really don’t recognize it, after a while. I do think we are able to sense what it happening in those early stages, but for one reason or another we fail to run to God’s ‘mercy seat’ to find mercy and forgiveness in our time of need. Some would suggest we might have a ‘pet sin’ that we are reluctant to overcome and be done with; hence our reluctance to ‘turn from it’ (repent). This might be what Jesus was alluding to in John 3:19-21, where some choose not to ‘come to the light because they love the darkness more’.

Friends…can I just tell you that if you are holding on to something that you know…God wants out of your life, then you are on shaky ground by ‘harboring an idol’ in your heart. And that is defiantly not a good thing! (Eph. 5:5; Rev. 21:7-8; 22:15) In short, an 'idol' is anything we love more than God.

What really makes this so serious is now days, many sincere people are not confronted with their ‘pet sins’, and yet are reassured by others who would tell them that ‘all is well with your soul’…and they need not worry because their ‘election is sealed’, or ‘guaranteed’. Or maybe they are just comforted with words like what the false prophets in Jeremiah’s day offered up…telling the people that ‘no evil will befall you even though you continue to walk according to the dictates of your own heart’ (Jer. 23:16-20)

This I do know…you cannot continue walking in the peace of God, or ‘abiding in Him’…with unconfessed or un-repented sin in your life. If you think you are doing just that, I’m telling you in Jesus’s name that it is a ‘false peace’, and the Bible has much to say about that as well. (Ezek. 13:8-10). The call from God rings true today…as it has always rang loud and clear: “Choose ye this day whom you will serve!”…and to ‘come out and be separate’. (1 Peter 1:14-17)

The early church knew full well what was on the line, seeing how serious God was when He dealt with Ananias and his wife, in Acts 5:1-11. That is why we are exhorted to ‘take heed to the things we have heard…lest we drift away’ (Heb. 2:1).

One last thought about those ‘pet sins’…I mentioned. Are any of us ever really shocked when we hear in the news…that someone who kept ‘exotic’ pets…like a tiger or giant python snake….is found dead in their homes, at the hands of their ‘beloved pet’? Just saying…