BEWARE OF THE TRAP OF SIN

Today's Bible reading is found in Proverbs 5-7. These three chapters give strong warning against sin, especially in areas of our thought life and sexual sin. The result of any sin is death, but chapter 5, verses 21-23 and chapter 6, verse 5 point out how sin traps us like a animal hunted and caught in a trap. Verse 26 of chapter 6 speaks of the same thing in slightly different words: “For the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.” I believe that any sin is Satan's attempt to reduce our effectiveness and can easily result in our entrapment regardless of whether that sin is from the world, the flesh or Satan himself.

I am reminded of my dad and I setting traps along the creek bed with the hopes of catching a raccoon. The bait was strategically placed so the coon would spring the trap as he gave into the temptation of eating a tasty morsel. We also carefully covered the set trap with mud, leaves and a scent that would hide the human smell so the intended target remained unsuspecting. That is how temptation works and suddenly we find ourselves caught with consequences that are not so easy to free ourselves from.

Finally in chapter 7, the writer of Proverbs gives us a solution. Verses 1-5 record the following words: “My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teaching as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, You are my sister, and call understanding your kinsman; they will keep you from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words.”

I am very thankful for two familiar promises in God's Word that pertain to sin and temptation! The first is found in I Corinthians 10:13: "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." The second is equally important and is found in I John 1:9: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."