This morning I was eating a chocolate muffin for breakfast and my dog Cooper sat staring at me with those huge, sad, puppy dog eyes...drooling and I knew in my heart he was thinking "please mom, just one bite, I love chocolate muffins...they look so good, so yummy, I want, I want, I want". Well it was easy to say no because I knew it was bad for him. Chocolate can make a dog very sick. I said to him, "honey, you know mommy loves you, and you know I want to give you anything you want, but I will not give you something that is going to make you sick". And at just that second it came to my mind that that is exactly how God feels toward us regarding sin.
When God tells us, through his word, not to do something, it's not because He is being mean, or being a taskmaster, or trying to take away our fun...it's because He's our dad and He loves us and He is protecting us. He's trying to keep us from doing something that is going to make us sick by bringing sin into our lives. He's trying to keep us from harm.
If you are a parent let me ask you....if your child was reaching for liquid dish soap to drink because it looked pretty and tasty, would you just stand by and say ok? No! You would run and yank it out of their hand and say no. Now your child might start crying or even pitching a fit, but you don't give in and give it to them because you know it's bad for them, it will make them sick, possibly kill them.
That's what sin is to us. It will make us sick....but it won't possibly kill us...it WILL kill us.
God gives us his laws because He loves us. He is telling us, hey, don't do that, it will kill you!!! Unfortunately, we all sin and that is why Jesus came...to wipe those sins, that disease, from us. To rescue us from ourselves, to save us, to cure us!! If you have the disease of sin Jesus can, and will save you too, all you have to do is ask Him. Just tell Him you have sinned, you're sorry, you don't want to sin anymore, you recognize that Jesus is the Son of God, He came and died on the cross to pay for our sins, He rose on the third day, and now He is at the right hand of the father interceding for us every day. Ask Him to forgive you, to cleanse you of your sins, to come into your heart, and to guide you for the rest of your life. Ask Him to keep you from delving into that poisonous sin each and every day. He WILL do it because He IS your loving father and He wants you to live.
I pray you go to Him today and trust Him to save you.
