Day 2314 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.


2 Peter 2:8 NIV

We've been talking about how we are at war against sin in this world. It's not easy. Seeing so much depravity and wickedness is hard to take. That's why these last several posts have been a little longer, a little different. This has suddenly become something that I am seriously passionate about. When we choose to follow Christ and leave the sinful ways behind, God opens our eyes to see just how bad things really are. It's easy for some to ignore. It's easy for those lost in it to pretend everything is just fine. But for anyone trying to fight the good fight of faith, that's just not possible.

Now I'm not a righteous man. I get things wrong every single day. Thankfully God has helped me learn to see those mistakes so that I can fix things and live a better life. But it's in having lived a sinful life that I know what it does to a person. I know the misery it causes. I understand the weight of guilt and shame that so many carry around because of the poor choices they've made. I know that something may be fun and exciting for a moment, but in the end it leaves you feeling empty. I know that the illusion of freedom is nothing but a lie that keeps us tripping again, and again, and again. I know that a life of sin is not and never will be what's best for anyone.

Having made all the mistakes I've made, I know I want more than that now. For everyone! All the evil in our world is truly hard to watch. It's honestly hard seeing so many blindly following the deception that's leading them to a place of suffering and misery. But the world around us make it seem like sin is okay. It's celebrated with marches, movements, and months. It's seen in movies and tv shows. It's heard in music. It's normalized and justified in ways that make people think that it poses no danger whatsoever. But it does! It is more dangerous than we know!

Sin offers this exciting illusion of freedom and power. It convinces people that there's a way of life that has no responsibility and therefore no consequences. It lures people in by offering whatever it is that a person is looking for. But as we've been discussing, that's all just temporary. The truth is unavoidable! At some point Christ is coming back. And He will shatter the darkness that has so many convinced that they're free to do as they please. I do not want anyone to be on the wrong side of His judgement. I don't want anyone to be turned away from Heaven. I don't want anyone to miss out on the chance to repent and leave sin behind!

Folks, we are living in a truly messed up world. The things that people are doing are not okay. I don't care what anyone says. I don't care what carefully crafted lie they sell you. I don't care how popular, how fun, how carefree, or how exciting something is made to appear. Sin is sin and nothing this world does, nothing anyone says can ever change that. There is no arguing with God! He has the final word, and His word tells us over and over in countless ways that living in sin is not good enough. And it tells us where a life of sin will lead! Nobody should want that.

People all around us are on a collision course with an eternity of agony and torment. How can we ignore that? How can we do nothing about all of the evil out there when the Bible tells us that it's leading people to hell? How can we look people in the eye and not care enough to tell them about Jesus? It is hard to confront sin? Absolutely. Is it scary and uncomfortable to stand up against what's popular in the world? Absolutely. But what's even harder is seeing so many lost in sin and realizing that they will stay there if nobody has the courage to stand up and tell them the truth.

The lies of evil won't stop trying to ruin lives. But we won't stop sharing the truth that saves. We can't stop because there's too much on the line and all the wickedness bothers us far too much to stay silent!

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