Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from violent men, who have planned to trip up my feet. The arrogant have hidden a trap for me, and with cords, they have spread a net. Beside the way, they have set snares for me. I say to the Lord, You are my God. Give ear to the voice of my pleas for mercy, O Lord! (Verses 4-6)
So brothers and sisters, be careful that none of you has an evil, unbelieving heart that will turn you away from the living God. But encourage each other every day while it is "today." Help each other so none of you will become hardened because sin has tricked you. Hebrews 3
It's kind of like "trick or treat" in reverse when it comes to our enemy. He knocks on the door, offering up lots and lots of candy and we eat like little fiends from his sugary bounty before we realize we will pay a huge price for the indulgence. We have sold our souls and lie holding our stomachs with a cold rag on our heads as he carries us into captivity. He's looking for us--the enemy. Waiting for just the right, vulnerable moment to trick us into the trap he's set. It's age-old. His ploys don't change much. Booze. Sex. Drugs. Power. Money. And Satan tries to get us on either end of the spectrum: pain or prosperity.
I don't think our hearts have to be necessarily evil to be unbelieving. That was the trap in the very beginning. Believing the lie of the enemy that God isn't good. That He isn't interested in our best interest. That something else or someone else will really make us feel better. It makes us cynical. If we knew there was going to be a robber waiting at some point in the day to attack us at work, the grocery store or at school, wouldn't we be ready? At least have pepper spray. Or even avoid the place altogether? Our enemy "prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5)." That should be pretty obvious, but he hides in places we often least expect.
I think sin is a politically incorrect word nowadays. Morality to the world has some very blurred lines. Biblical wrong has been legislated to be "right." So what am I talking about when I say "sin"? Anything we take up that becomes more important than our relationship with God. Idolatry traps us. Call it whatever you want, but if it's bigger than pleasing the one true God, it's, to you, sin. And the longer and more completely we bow down to and embrace our "sin," the more cynical about a merciful God we become. It's only logical. Idolatry captivates the mind and fetters the soul. That thing that is all we live for, all we can think about. Whatever drives us. Fulfills us. We are ever chained to it without God's mercy, which we are loath to call on in our prostration before our sin. And often we blame God for the mess we are in!
I love the example of the monkey in the jungle. Trappers don't even need a difficult contraption to capture monkeys. All they need is a bright, shining object which they place within the cage. As the sunlight catches its rays seeping through the bars of the cage, the monkey approaches in curiosity. The little creature looks around. Then back at the shining object. Captivated. Charmed by the brightness. Without much more thought than that, in goes the monkey's hand. It grasped the shining object. It will be mine! When the monkey attempts to retrieve his prize, he discovers he can't get his hand out of the cage. It's hopelessly stuck! Trapped! Outside the cage! By his own idolatry. Because...the monkey won't let go.
I've been trapped, monkey that I was. Tricked by an idol that left me more bereft than the pain that had me grasping for a panacea. Cynicism followed as I held onto the idol and blamed God for my pain. But there comes a time, when you've known the precious love of God, that the idol makes you sick, literally and/or physically. It drops hollow into the vacuum your soul has become. Unsatisfying. Tarnished and abused. Snared by the wayside, I cried for mercy from the God I had abandoned. Pled for help that it would even be possible to let go of my shining object. My Father peeled my fingers, one at a time, from my grasp, and took my hand, now free, into His. I just took a very deep breath here at the computer. It's good to be a child in the house of God.
So brothers and sisters, be careful that none of you has an evil, unbelieving heart that will turn you away from the living God. But encourage each other every day while it is "today." Help each other so none of you will become hardened because sin has tricked you. Hebrews 3
It's kind of like "trick or treat" in reverse when it comes to our enemy. He knocks on the door, offering up lots and lots of candy and we eat like little fiends from his sugary bounty before we realize we will pay a huge price for the indulgence. We have sold our souls and lie holding our stomachs with a cold rag on our heads as he carries us into captivity. He's looking for us--the enemy. Waiting for just the right, vulnerable moment to trick us into the trap he's set. It's age-old. His ploys don't change much. Booze. Sex. Drugs. Power. Money. And Satan tries to get us on either end of the spectrum: pain or prosperity.
I don't think our hearts have to be necessarily evil to be unbelieving. That was the trap in the very beginning. Believing the lie of the enemy that God isn't good. That He isn't interested in our best interest. That something else or someone else will really make us feel better. It makes us cynical. If we knew there was going to be a robber waiting at some point in the day to attack us at work, the grocery store or at school, wouldn't we be ready? At least have pepper spray. Or even avoid the place altogether? Our enemy "prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5)." That should be pretty obvious, but he hides in places we often least expect.
I think sin is a politically incorrect word nowadays. Morality to the world has some very blurred lines. Biblical wrong has been legislated to be "right." So what am I talking about when I say "sin"? Anything we take up that becomes more important than our relationship with God. Idolatry traps us. Call it whatever you want, but if it's bigger than pleasing the one true God, it's, to you, sin. And the longer and more completely we bow down to and embrace our "sin," the more cynical about a merciful God we become. It's only logical. Idolatry captivates the mind and fetters the soul. That thing that is all we live for, all we can think about. Whatever drives us. Fulfills us. We are ever chained to it without God's mercy, which we are loath to call on in our prostration before our sin. And often we blame God for the mess we are in!
I love the example of the monkey in the jungle. Trappers don't even need a difficult contraption to capture monkeys. All they need is a bright, shining object which they place within the cage. As the sunlight catches its rays seeping through the bars of the cage, the monkey approaches in curiosity. The little creature looks around. Then back at the shining object. Captivated. Charmed by the brightness. Without much more thought than that, in goes the monkey's hand. It grasped the shining object. It will be mine! When the monkey attempts to retrieve his prize, he discovers he can't get his hand out of the cage. It's hopelessly stuck! Trapped! Outside the cage! By his own idolatry. Because...the monkey won't let go.
I've been trapped, monkey that I was. Tricked by an idol that left me more bereft than the pain that had me grasping for a panacea. Cynicism followed as I held onto the idol and blamed God for my pain. But there comes a time, when you've known the precious love of God, that the idol makes you sick, literally and/or physically. It drops hollow into the vacuum your soul has become. Unsatisfying. Tarnished and abused. Snared by the wayside, I cried for mercy from the God I had abandoned. Pled for help that it would even be possible to let go of my shining object. My Father peeled my fingers, one at a time, from my grasp, and took my hand, now free, into His. I just took a very deep breath here at the computer. It's good to be a child in the house of God.
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