The Deceitfulness of Sin

(Prov 20:17 NLT) Stolen bread tastes sweet, but it turns to gravel in the mouth.

This morning we continue in the book of Proverbs. Back in chapter 9 Solomon said, "Stolen water tastes best," making a reference to the illicit desire most have for the forbidden. I believe this all started with Adam. Ever since Adam indulged himself with the forbidden fruit men have been born with a fallen nature. I call this the "Adamic nature." Whenever you tell someone that they CAN'T have something, the Adamic nature feeds a hunger and desire for the forbidden.

You must understand what happened when you gave your life to Christ. When you were Born-Again you received a new nature, spiritually speaking, but then you must submit yourself to the process of mind renewal. While your spiritual birth was instantaneous, the renewing of the mind is definitely a process. You must learn to love what God loves and hate what He hates so that you can grow in godliness. While the Adamic nature may have made stolen bread attractive and sweet in your BC (Before Christ) days, your new nature and new mind will keep you from it; and if you truly renew your mind, you won't even have a desire for the ungodly. But for those that do - who are either carnal Christians who still love what they should not love or straight-up sinners who have a sin nature - whatever enjoyment they receive from the sin will be short lived.

Solomon tells us that stolen bread might start off tasting sweet, but it eventually turns into gravel in the mouth. In other words, the person committing sin might enjoy it for a little while, but when it is all said and done the pleasures of sin have a way of turning rotten; leaving the person unsatisfied and feeling unpleasant.

In the book of Job, Zophar drives home this message loud and clear, saying: "Since the time of creation, everyone has known that sinful people are happy for only a while. Though their pride and power may reach to the sky, they will disappear like dust, and those who knew them will wonder what happened. They will be forgotten like a dream and vanish from the sight of family and friends... Sinners love the taste of sin; they relish every bite and swallow it slowly. But their food will turn sour and poison their stomachs. Then God will make them lose the wealth they gobbled down... Their hard work will result in nothing gained, because they cheated the poor... Greedy people want everything and are never satisfied. But when nothing remains for them to grab, they will be nothing. Once they have everything, distress and despair will strike them down, and God will make them swallow his blazing anger... The heavens and the earth will testify against them" (see Job 20). Wow. Zophar said a mouthful as he painted a vivid picture of the deceitfulness of sin. Sin might seem promising, but the end result is disastrous.

So what does this mean to you? A few things:
1. The more you get into the Word the more you will develop a hunger and thirst for the things of God.
2. As your mind is renewed you will simply desire sin and less and less.
3. Sin might seem enjoyable, but the pleasures of sin are deceitful. What starts off tasting good eventually turns sour and poisonous.
4. Don't succumb to the temptations to sin. Sin will take you where you don't want to go, make you stay longer than you want to stay, and spend more than you can afford.

Father, I know that sin is sometimes alluring and that temptations can be real. However, I declare, by faith, that I get so much Word in me that I experience mind renewal in every area of my life. Once my mind is renewed in a certain area, then I simply don't struggle with temptations in that area any longer. My goal is to renew my mind completely to think as You think, to desire what You desire for me to have, and to live as You would have me to live. This way I will shine as light in a dark world and I will not have to deal with the deceitful consequences of sin. Sin may look sweet, but I know it quickly turns into an unrighteous and unpleasant harvest. I walk, fully, in the newness of the life Christ Jesus died to provide for me. In Jesus' name. Amen!