The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin. —Proverbs 5:22
Timothy Treadwell loved grizzly bears. He spent more than a dozen summers among bears in Alaska, naming them and getting close enough to touch them.
But in 2003, his life among the bears ended when one fatally mauled him and his girlfriend on the Alaskan Peninsula. Wild animals can’t be “reformed.” Regardless of how comfortable or trusting you may become around them, sooner or later they’ll act according to their nature. To assume otherwise is to flirt with disaster.
There’s a beast that’s far more dangerous than any bear. It’s called sin. Most of us would never get cozy with a wild animal, but we’re not always so careful when it comes to sin. Subconsciously perhaps, we tend to think of certain sins as “mostly harmless”—especially if we’ve played with them for years and never been seriously bitten. But eventually sin will dominate and destroy us.
If there’s a sin you’ve been playing with, would you ask God to help you stop? Don’t wait for the beast to reveal its true nature.
Make it Personal
Have you seen the dangerous nature of sin impact either your own life or the lives of others? What were the consequences?