I just read this verse this morning, and then it was in an email devotional that I get - Daily in the Word.
I have been thinking along these lines lately... Proverbs is a great "mirror"!!!
I get lax and start doing "little" things, and think, well it isn't so bad.
Skimping on my time w/ God is the root cause (or putting it off till later in the day, then feeling rushed), and that causes a host of other things.
But then when I start getting closer to God again, those little things stand out.
Little things can also cause me to be dissatisfied, can affect my attitude, and I get grumpy toward my hubby and kids... Which as you know ends up affecting their attitudes as well.
This devotional is talking more about hidden sins, but it all starts somewhere. Little things can grow into big things without realizing it. When you get further and further away from God, you begin to get hard-hearted.
No one is immune to "falling" or any "big" sin. It begins in the heart, with something the devil will tell us isn't important.
"The best way to avoid sudden destruction is to respond to the first warnings of reproof."
sMiLeS,
Sudden Destruction
By Paul Chappell
Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013
"He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy." Proverbs 29:1
Bernard Madoff seemed to have it all. He lived the life of the fabulously wealthy in New York City. The securities trading company he founded when he graduated from college produced amazing returns for investors. He was tapped to serve as Chairman of the NASDAQ stock trading company. He rubbed elbows with the elite of the financial, political, and entertainment worlds. He enjoyed the best of everything that money could buy.
Yet all of Madoff’s apparent success was built on the foundation of a lie. His investment firm was nothing more than a giant Ponzi scheme that for decades depended on getting new investors to pay off the old ones while money was being siphoned off for the personal use of Madoff and his family. With shocking suddenness Madoff was arrested, tried, and convicted. He is today serving a 150-year sentence in federal prison.
One of the most effective lies of Satan is that we will get away with doing wrong. He convinces us that we will be the exception and can escape the consequences of sin. If we had an accurate assessment of the devastating results of sin in advance, we would be far more hesitant to cross the lines that God has drawn in His Word. Often we mistake the grace and forbearance of God that protects us from immediate punishment when we first do wrong as His permission to continue. Yet that very mercy is extended as a reminder to do right. As Paul wrote, “the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance” (Romans 2:4).
The only cure for sin is confession and repentance. No cover up will hide sin from the eyes of God, and if we continue stiff necked in doing wrong, eventually judgment will fall. The best way to avoid sudden destruction is to respond to the first warnings of reproof.
Today’s Proverbs Precept:
No sin stays hidden forever. It is always wise to confess and repent before destruction falls.
I have been thinking along these lines lately... Proverbs is a great "mirror"!!!
I get lax and start doing "little" things, and think, well it isn't so bad.
Skimping on my time w/ God is the root cause (or putting it off till later in the day, then feeling rushed), and that causes a host of other things.
But then when I start getting closer to God again, those little things stand out.
Little things can also cause me to be dissatisfied, can affect my attitude, and I get grumpy toward my hubby and kids... Which as you know ends up affecting their attitudes as well.
This devotional is talking more about hidden sins, but it all starts somewhere. Little things can grow into big things without realizing it. When you get further and further away from God, you begin to get hard-hearted.
No one is immune to "falling" or any "big" sin. It begins in the heart, with something the devil will tell us isn't important.
"The best way to avoid sudden destruction is to respond to the first warnings of reproof."
sMiLeS,
