The Journey

A couple of weeks ago we took a look at the life of David who was a valiant soldier, a brilliant military strategist, a peace-making diplomat, a world-class composer and gifted musician.  And, oh yeah, he was the greatest leader-king in the history of the world. David's life took a nasty turn when he decided to take a day off from his responsibilities, chose to sleep with another man's wife, and then he had the husband of this wife killed in order to cover up his sin.  How could "a man after God's heart" do such a thing?

The short answer is that David failed to discern the insidious nature of indwelling sin. Here is a short description of how indwelling sin typically works in the life of a person:

Sin Tempts - Sin disguises its ugliness and begins to lose its nastiness in your eyes. As soon as sin begins to look good, you can be sure that you are in the middle of temptation. You focus short term pleasure (the bait) and fail to see the long-term consequences of that sin (the hook).

Sin Bargains - Sin makes an argument and you start internally bargaining: "I will do this, but not this. I will go this far, but not too far." You begin to rationalize the sin and to inappropriately bank on God's forgiveness. "I can repent later, God will forgive me", you say to yourself.

Sin Promises - Sin will begin to tell you can't live without this (insert the tempting sin). It will promise you satisfaction, pleasure and meaning.  It will tell you that you will only be happy if you do this.

Sin wins - Sin has you in its grip and you give in to it and love and obey it more than God.

Sin Addicts - Sin enslaves you and you want more and eventually you need more to feel satisfied. 

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. James 1:14-15