September 17
“Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.” (Hebrews 10:35-36)
We have been discussing the last several days consequences for immoral behaviors, behaviors that include viewing pornography and harboring lust in our hearts. Yesterday we touched on the consequences of being shunned by the Body of Christ and being stricken by the Lord with sickness or even death. Here are a few more probable consequences to consider:
- Removal of God’s protection around you and your loved ones; opening yourself and your family up to the attack of the evil one. Vulnerability.
It is easy to go along in life and enjoy God’s protection and provision in our lives. Life is good, and things are generally going our way. And we become complacent, and pride begins to take hold in our minds, thinking that it is because of our skill or hard work that things are going well for us. We might be tempted by immoral lusts or pornography, and we might dabble or plunge ourselves into it, thinking we are able to get ourselves out of any bad thing that comes our way. But do we really understand how much God is the One who has watched over us and protected us from Satan’s attacks? Do we really understand that in God’s economy, we obey Him a little, and He blesses us a lot, and all the things we enjoy have only a little to do with us and a lot to do with Him?
What if He began to remove those blessings from us, little by little, or in big chunks at a time due to our disobedience and pursuit of immoral pleasures? What if He allowed Satan to make your spouse or one of your children stumble? What if He stopped blessing your work and let difficulties come upon you? What if He allowed your health or the health of a loved one to be compromised in some way? What if He no longer blessed your investments, or brought big and unexpected expenses into your life?
I believe Satan wants to attack you in every area he can and make your life as a Christian as difficult and miserable as he can. It is only God Who is preventing him from doing so more than he is already. And you would run to Satan and snub God by indulging the flesh in immoral pleasures? See how that works out for you.
- Power, zeal, strength, energy, confidence drained away.
When we sin, especially sins of immorality and lust, our vitality and motivation is drained away. Kaput! Where we once had confidence and determination, we now just want to run to the bushes and hide, like our father Adam. We are stopped dead in our tracks from moving forward on the projects, goals, and plans we were pursuing prior to our stumbling. Doing simple things becomes more laborious. Even getting out of bed seems a chore. Whatever zeal for life we once had is zapped away, like putting a big hole in the ship and sinking it right to the bottom. We feel powerless and trapped, helpless while the world passes by around us and does whatever it wants to us. Viewing pornography and engaging in fleshly immoral lusts is like voluntarily going to prison. We can’t get much work done in prison, can we, even if we wanted to? Why trade your power and energy for such a momentary, fleeting pleasure? How stupid!