Articles
Be Watchful
We are told in Romans 8:23 “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” When we sin as Christians, it should never be our intent to do so. When we are tempted and do not flee the situation quickly enough then sin is right at the door of our heart. Most of our sins are not planned but rather occur unexpectedly. If we leave this sin unattended it will occur more and more in our life and bother us even less. Let’s look at two examples of unattended sins and the consequences of their actions.
The first example is the sin of anger. Look at the story of Cain and Abel. Both of these brothers worshiped God. God accepted Abel’s offering but not Cain’s. This caused Cain to be angry. Cain could have asked for forgiveness and then offered a more pleasing offering to God but he chose rather to be angry at God and then his brother Abel whom he then killed. Cain had no intention of killing his brother the day they offered their sacrifices to God. In fact, I’m sure he loved his brother Abel. Then, what happened to Cain to cause him to kill his brother? The answer is quite simple. Cain allowed anger to enter his heart and mind and he left it unattended and unchecked. He allowed it to grow in his heart until he acted on his anger. James 1:19 tells us “to be slow to anger.” Anger may occur in our hearts but we cannot let it control us. If we leave it unattended and unchecked, it will eventually get control of you instead of you controlling it. Let’s now look at the person known as Judas Iscariot, who was a disciple of Jesus but who was a greedy thief. He was in charge of the money bag we are told in John 12:5-6. He was upset that expensive oil was used to anoint Jesus’ feet rather than be sold not to help the poor as he said but so he could steal it from the money box he was in charge of. He allowed the sin of being greedy and let it go unattended in his life and it grew and grew. When he was approached to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, it was easy for him to say yes because this unattended sin of greed now controlled his life.
Anger and greed are sins that an individual may not even realize they have or the consequences of having these sins. We all need to realize that sin can lead us down a destructive path physically and spiritually. We are told in I John 2:11 that one who hates his brother does not realize where they are going. We must all realize where sin is taking us. It is taking us farther and farther away from God if we leave it unattended. Both Cain and Judas did not know where they were going.
Do you know where you are going today? If it is Heaven, you must not leave any sin unattended or unchecked. You must flee all appearances of evil. If you do sin, you must quickly confess that sin and ask for forgiveness. Remember unattended sin will grow and cause you to be lost eternally. Do something about sin early and do it quickly.
