Dear Saints of God:

Sin is a powerful attractor, and many fall prey to its alluring pull. Although we know from our study of the Scriptures that the “wages of sin is death”, we still to often “flirt with sin” and end up getting caught in its trap. We know that we need to shun sin at all cost, because as the Scriptures tells us, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” James 4:17 We know what the Lord requires of us, yet many of us just don’t do what we know to be right, all the time, and end up suffering the consequences.

We as Christian are to “let our light shine before men (mankind), so that they will see our good works, and glorify our Father which in heaven.” But much to often, we hid our light from those in darkness, by flirting with sin that we know full well that we need to walk a wide birth around. To often, we want to get so close to sin without crossing over that line, that it becomes dangerous to our souls and those weak in the faith that are observing our Christian lifestyle. I think we sometimes “grow weary of doing good”, and for the sake of adding a little excitement to our lives, we begin to do foolish things like, flirting once again with sins that once held us tightly in their grip. We lie to ourselves saying, “Oh, this won’t enslave me again. I am a strong Christian now, I can do this!”

I never smoked in my life, yet for some strange reason, I found myself craving to smoke cigars. Every time I went into a convenience store, somehow my eyes were drawn to the boxes of cigars behind the counter. I was flirting with sin. Time after time, the allurement got stronger and stronger until one day, I gave in and bought a box of cigars and smoked them. I felt bad about in and vowed to “never do that again!” But six months later I would find myself buying a box of cigars and smoking them. This was bad enough, but it got worse. I have another minister friend who used to be a heavy cigarette smoker, but through the Lord was able to quit the habit. One day, I went to pick him up to go somewhere, and I happened to have a box of cigars in my truck. I said, “Would you like a cigar?” He turned to me and with the love of God said, “You know that I used to be a heavy smoker. If I smoke one of your cigars, I know that I will want more. So, I cannot allow that to happen.” Without condemning me for my momentary backsliding, his gentle reply spoke volumes to my soul! Without thinking, I had allowed myself to almost cause my brother to stumble, again. I repented and threw those cigars in the trash.

I don’t know what sins you are flirting with today. I don’t know how far you have allowed your flirting with sin to take you back into your past sinful life, but please stop today! Please for your soul’s sake, stop what you have been doing, and return to the Lord with your whole heart while you can. Please think about the lives and the souls of the people around you that you will effect for the good of the kingdom or for evil. We have got to understand that not only is it ruining our witness, but we could be the cause of someone falling back into the sins that had enslaved them in the past, and possibly over time leaving the faith altogether. Let us not let momentary backsliding cause us to cause others to sin with us. We are to be “salt and light” to all those that we come into contact with.

Many in the church feel that they have got their “pet sins” hidden from those around them and that “nobody” knows about them. The Scriptures tell us, “Be sure YOUR SINS will be found out!” God is allowing us time to come to Him “privately” and confess our sins and get right with Him. I urge you to do that before He has to expose you openly. Looking back over the years and seeing how the Lord allowed the secret lives of some of our high profile ministers to be brought to public shame, should be a stiff warning to all of us that “God doesn’t play!”

Prophet Martin Young
 

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