Tag Archives: fleeting pleasures

Greg Laurie – Fun . . . at First

 

It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. —Hebrews 11:24–25

There can be an initial excitement when we sin. Of course, it doesn’t last long. The Bible says that Moses “chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin” (Hebrews 11:25, emphasis added). The Bible also says “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

When you get away with something and nothing happens, there is an initial euphoria. You think, They lied to me—it’s actually fun. It will be fun . . . at first. It would be exciting to jump off the Empire State Building . . . until you hit the ground. The same is true of sin. It is pleasurable for a time.

The first time you get away with whatever it is you shouldn’t have done, you think, This is pretty cool. I can be a Christian and still do all of this stuff too. You believe you are getting away with it and that you can actually have the best of both worlds. You’ve convinced yourself that you can live a double life. You might even say that you feel good about it. But your feelings can mislead you. And it will all come crashing down.

Sometimes when God doesn’t bust us straightaway for our stupidity, we think we can always get away with it. When we don’t reap the immediate consequences of a sin, we might even, in our warped thinking, rationalize what we are doing. Yet Ecclesiastes 8:11 says, “Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” Don’t confuse God’s grace with His permission, and even worse, His blessing.

Sin will blind you, and then it will find you. Your sin will find you out.

Our Daily Bread — Make It Count

 

1 Peter 4:1-8

Since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind. —1 Peter 4:1

In his battle with cancer, Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc., said: “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything—all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.” His suffering influenced the choices he made.

In contrast, the apostle Peter wanted to motivate his readers to use their suffering to make their lives count for eternity. And he wanted Jesus’ suffering and death to inspire them to accept the spiritual conflict and persecution that would result from bearing the name of Jesus. Because they loved Jesus, suffering was going to be normative. Jesus’ suffering was to serve as motivation to give up sinful passions and to be obedient to the will of God (1 Peter 4:1-2). If their lives were going to count for eternity, they needed to stop indulging in fleeting pleasures and instead exhaust their lives on what pleased God.

Remembering that Jesus suffered and died to forgive our sins is the most important thought we have to inspire us to make godly choices today and to make our lives count for eternity. —Marvin Williams

Jesus, You have suffered and died to forgive our sin;

may Your death and resurrection inspire us to never

return to where we’ve been. Help us in our resolve

to live for Your will alone.

 

Jesus’ death forgave my past sins and inspires my present obedience.