Pr. 7:15: “So I came out to meet you, diligently to seek your face, and I have found you.”
Do not be deceived. Satan will diligently send sin our way. That is why Peter warns us in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
We have a personal adversary that comes at us with our specific problems and weaknesses so that we may be distracted and won’t be sober and vigilant. He wants to preoccupy us with sin, and cause us to become engrossed in it. If he can do that, he knows our hearts will become hardened and callous, no longer caring whether sin rules our hearts or not. Once sin takes us captive, only an act of God can free us from the bondage.
In contrast, God wishes to perfect, support, strengthen, comfort, and establish us. He sent His very own Son to bring freedom from sin and eternal death. The Lord welcomes us to come to Him in time of need, and there find mercy and grace to help. God does not try to bind or entrap us, but sent Jesus the Christ to set us free from all bondage with true liberty.
We must remain sober, seriously considering God’s word and will throughout our day. We must remain vigilant, carefully watching for danger, and allowing the Holy Spirit’s alerts to avert us from oncoming temptations and traps.
When Satan sends sin out to find and meet you, and to diligently seek your face, remember that you have a Helper who will show you the way of escape. The Lord promises us in 1 Cor. 10:13, “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
Therefore, my beloved, flee!! There is always a way out. If you must run, then run. If you can pray, then pray. If you are able to hear the Holy Spirit’s directions for escape, listen. No matter what you think or feel, there IS a way out. Just because the sin eagerly and intentionally came for you, does not mean you must acquiesce.
Jesus has already defeated satan. Don’t let that liar tell you otherwise. So, during those times when we allow the way out to pass us by and we sin, we must remember that mercy, grace, and forgiveness were already poured out for us on the cross. Jesus sets us free with the forgiveness He made possible. We never have to be devoured, entangled, or bound again! The final answer in our lives is never sin; it is always Jesus!
Praise God!
jamie
considering the word 