The Entrapping Nature of Sin

“His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins. He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.” (Pr 5:22-23 AV)

 

As the children of God, we know this passage is speaking of those who will reject the saving grace of God by His Son’s atoning sacrifice.  However, the principle does apply to us as well. We often forget the entrapping nature of sin.  We forget the longer we linger in sin, the harder it is to escape.  We think sin is manageable.  We think if we hold off on truly indulging, then we can stop access from being a problem.  We think that if we control impulses, enjoy sin in moderation, and show some self-discipline, then sin can be controlled without too much damage.  The problem with this thinking is the goalposts keep changing.  We have a line which we will not cross.  If we bump into that line and refuse to cross it, then we see it as a success.  We can enjoy a bit of sin without it getting out of control.  Over time, that line gets moved.  When we started, it was a dabble.  Now that sin has become increasingly demanding, it has become a habit.  Soon, if we are not careful, what was a habit will become a deathtrap.  This is Solomon’s warning to his children.

When I was a kid, PSA (Public Service Announcements) were very common.  Especially during kid’s TV programming.  One of them involved cigarette smoking.  Even today, commercials are warning against the evils of tobacco use.  One such commercial which aired just a few days ago was voiced over by a smoker.  The commercial started by showing this lady’s wedding photo.  She was a beautiful bride for sure.  As the camera panned in on this photo, the lady gave a very quick testimonial about her tobacco use.  Over the years, she became a heavy smoker.  Then for the last paragraph or so of her narrative, you saw her in her hospital bed with half her neck and face removed, a scarf over her head because of hair loss, and a tracheotomy tube in her throat because she lost her voicebox.  At the end of the commercial was a line at the bottom of the screen telling us she died three days after the shooting of the commercial.  When I was a young man, I took up smoking.  I tried it because there were several of my relatives who smoked.  However, I went about it all wrong.  I stole a pack of my mother’s cigarettes and my brother and I hid out in the treehouse.  We split the pack in half between the two of us and smoked them all!  Was I ever sick!  Instead of inching towards that line, I raced right up to it.  Never did I smoke ever again.

Sin is that way.  It tempts and entices inch by inch.  First a small little hard candy.  Then a whole candy bar.  Before you know it, our diets contain more sugar in a month than we would need for a lifetime.  The warning is a serious one.  Sin often comes in moderation.  If we do not fight it, was seemed like a lot when we started is not sufficient to satisfy now.  The warning isn’t merely about entrapment.  It goes even further.  The longer we are entrapped by our sin, the harsher the consequences.  If we fail a little, we will suffer a little.  If we fail a lot, we will suffer a lot.  This is Solomon’s warning.  We are all like this.  It may not be sins of the flesh that will be our undoing.  It could be sin of the mind or heart as well.  Having an undisciplined personality can lead to loneliness.  Not containing our minds to the truth of God’s word can lead us into false doctrines that may cost us our very souls.  This is a serious warning.  One to which we would be wise to heed.