Evangéliumi Hírnök, 2003 (95. évfolyam, 1-11. szám)
2003-03-01 / 3. szám
Page 8. YtfnTH / YfltITM So let me ask you a question. With all of these battles going on in your life, how can you possibly do the right thing? And also, what is the point? Why should I live the kind of life God wants me to? I’m going to give you four steps to overcome sin and guard your heart! III. Guarding Your Heart A. Know your Sin. When I was in elementary school, I don't remember what grade, our science project was examining the taste buds. They gave us each a little bag of different types of food to demonstrate all of the different tastes that our tongue can taste, such as sweet, sour, bitter and salty. I don't remember everything that was in the bag, but I do remember that there was an orange, there were peanuts, and a couple of other things that I don't remember, but one thing that I remember for sure, was that there was a piece of chocolate in there. Well, it was right before lunch, so I was pretty hungry. Obviously, the teacher had you eat everything before the chocolate, so the chocolate was last. When we finally got to the chocolate, I was really excited. But when I tasted it, I was extremely disappointed. It tasted bitter! It was actually sugarless chocolate that the teacher gave us. Sin is the same way. It seems so tempting, but when you take a bite out of it, you find that it’s not so sweet after all. Maybe not right away, but eventually you will. But yet, we are still like sheep. Do you know what sheep are like? They move around in a herd to the pasture to feed every day, but they need a leader because even though they’ve been going the same way for their whole lives, one day without a leader, and they would be completely lost and not know where to go. If they are taken to a river to drink, sometimes you need to actually take their heads out of the water or else they would drown! But in reality, we’re not really that much different from sheep. Maybe that’s why the Bible compares us to sheep so much. Even though we may know the danger of sin, we still jump right into it. 1.) And sin is downhill. You can’tjust stop whenever you wish. It’s a lot harder to stop running down a hill and turn around and walk back up than to keep on running down the hill. Even a little boy can bend an oak tree when it is new, but 100 men couldn’t root it up when it is full grown. b.) Not only is sin addictive, it is also damaging. Yes, God will forgive you for your sins, but the consequences continue. Some have little consequences, and other things have big consequences. Sometimes it may be a consequence that you must live with for the rest of your life. 3.) It’s so crucial to understand sin the way God understands it. If you don’t, you won’t understand why you have to change. Something to keep in mind is that when we sin, it’s like us saying to Christ, “hey, look. I’m glad that you died for me. That’s great and all, but I don’t need it. I’m just going to live my life the way I want to.” It may sound rash, but that’s the way God views our sins. Which brings me to the next step. B. Know Your God. You might be sitting there thinking “But you don’t understand. My problem is complicated. And I don’t think even God wants to forgive me.” And you might be right, your problem may be pretty complicated. But I think the pastor at my church says it best: God is a bigger savior than you are a sinner. I mean, this is the same God that split the Red Sea and brought down the walls of Jericho. And he’s on your side! And the great thing about it is that God is so patient. Though we are dumb sheep and may make the same mistake 10 million times, God will always forgive us if we go back to him. If he didn’t, Christ’s death on the cross wouldn’t mean anything. When God looks at us, he should automatically send us to the pits of hell. But Jesus is like a filter for us, when God looks at us, we seem perfect to him, because he sees us through Christ. But don’t let that be an excuse to sin. The Bible says “if you love me, you must keep my commands.” So you can’t just keep on sinning and keep asking God to forgive you. Once you understand who your God is and what He is capable of, you are ready to begin your battle plan to guard your heart. Which is the next step, know your plan. C. Know Your Plan. What would happen if I was the coach of the Detroit Lions football team, and I decided to plan a new strategy. I am going to try to win the game by just concentrating on defense. That should work, right? If the other team can’t score, they can’t win, right? Well, the problem with that strategy is that defense doesn’t win games, and most likely the other team will score. Especially if you’re the Detroit Lions, the other team will score. What I am trying to say by this is that a good offense is the best defense. You need a defense, but a strong offense wins the game. It’s the same with your thoughts. If you clean out the garbage out of your thoughts, that’s only half the battle. You ’ ve got to replace those thoughts with Biblical thoughts. Not an easy task. During World War II, the Battle of Iwo Jima was an extremely bloody one. Huge U.S. ships pounded the island with massive guns for hours before a land invasion was done. Even then, the fighting was fierce. The plan of the marines was to take Mt. Suribachi, and they finally did, which is where the famous picture of the four marines lifting the flag took place. But the fighting was long from over. Many Japanese soldiers were still hidden in the caves, and mopping up went on for many more days after that. Our minds are in a similar situation. Though wc may decide to change and to start living our lives for Christ and clean out our thoughts, even when you think you have achieved victory, the enemy is still hiding in the caves. Your old sinful nature is still there, waiting and ready to ambush you in your moment of weakness. That’s why it is so important to stay in constant communication with God. To be a part of a conversation, you have to do two things: Listen and Speak. Listening is reading the Bible. You won’t know what God is telling you if you don’t listen to Him. That’s why it’s so crucial to daily be in the Word. You can’t overcome your problems if you don’t know what God has to say about them. But it’s just as important to talk to God. That’s prayer. You have to ask God to help you overcome your sins, and He guarantees that He will. In I Corinthians 10:13 it says “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” That is a tremendous promise. And let me encourage you, I know sometimes when you pray it feels as if it’s useless. But do this, next time you feel that you’re in a situation where you feel like God doesn’t care and you don’t care much about God, pray this prayer: “God, I don’t love you right now. I don’t even want to love you ri^ht now. But help me to want to love you. ’ Say your mind is a building of some sort. It has a door to it. You stand guard at the door and you regulate what enters and what does not. Jesus of course is standing next to you, but who goes in is not his choice, it’s yours. He can only warn you of danger. Let’s say ‘loser’ approaches the door. He says to you, “You’ve been a loser all your life. You blew it again. You might as well write bum on your resume, cause that’s all you are!” Well, do you let loser in? Can he enter the doors of your March, 2003
