Scripture

“Now you will eat the fruit of what you have done, until you are stuffed full with your own schemes.”

~Proverbs 1:31, CEV

Quote

Sin and self-satisfaction bring destruction and death to stupid fools.

~Solomon

Both the scripture and the quote are true. You don’t need faith to know that sin is destructive. Just open your eyes to what’s going on around you: sin carries within it’s core the seed and power of destruction. The wages of sin is death. The soul that sins will die. Solomon saw this truth and wrote about it; then he ignored his own teaching. I think he thought he was about the rule but no one is above the rule. Even Jesus died because of sin: not his of course but ours. I was reading Psalm 32 this morning. David said, “I tried to hide my sin from God and it didn’t work so I confessed them and got forgiveness.” The guilt that David felt was eating him alive. When he got honest with God and confessed to the truth, he got cleansed. The Greek word is for cleansing is ca·thar·sis and it means to purge, to purify, or to exorcise. Counselors use this term in reference to a patients honesty. There is no cleansing without truth. When we get honest with God, we get a spiritual bath. Unfortunately the world is filled with people who will not be honest about their sin. Oh, they are blatantly honest about your sin or my sin but they refuse to come clean concerning the filth in their life. There is no hope or healing for the dishonest.

Don’t be a fool. The fool thinks he can fool God. You cannot fool God. He knows more about you than you know about yourself. The Pharisees did not think they were sinners but Jesus made fun of them in public for their hypocrisy. Jesus knew and so did everyone else that the Pharisees were sinners; yet the Pharisees never saw their sin. God is not out of destroy anyone: Jesus came to save us from the destructive consequences of sin but not even He can save us if we refuse to acknowledge our sins. All of our bad decisions and choices have consequences. If you use tobacco, there are consequences. If you smoke pot, even synthetic pot through a vape, there are consequences. If you drink like a fish, there are consequences. If you lie like a dog, there are consequences. If you take what doesn’t belong to you, there are consequences. If you gossip and talk about other people personal problems, there are consequences. If you are hyper-judgmental and wear your halo too tight, there are consequences. When you get addicted to drugs, you will do all of the above. Don’t be deceived, you are not going to get by with any infraction of the law. There is a built in judgment. In theology, we call it retribution and this law is woven into the fabric of the universe. When I think a bad thought are say a bad word, I repent immediately because I know what is coming.

One of the ways that sin makes a fool of us is that it deceives us into believing that are sins are private and not public. Sorry folks, that bird will not fly; God has revealed to the world that you are a death and hell deserving sinner. You are hopelessly depraved and your righteousness makes God sick. You are not fooling God and you are not fooling others. Those who try to cover their sins with their own devices are the fools.

Sorry folks, I didn’t want to blog on this subject but it is what the LORD laid on my heart. The TRUTH is the truth and there is nothing I can do about it. It always nails me because I am always guilty. I have no doubt that I am reaping what I have sowed.

What a beautiful day and I think we have more to follow. Goodbye January and hello February. We attended Mrs. Edith Orr’s COLS earlier today. Very good celebration. Joe David and Dr. J. Harold Thompson did a superb job. DBC did great on the food for the family. We had plenty and the deserts were delicious. Thank you ladies. Our Senior Adults did came through on the deserts.

I think GOLDEN GIRLS meet in the morning and then June and I are off to Athens for another COLS: one of June’s cousins. My sister got moved to Rehab today. Matter of fact, they are doing it this very moment.