Friday, April 8, 2011

It's Okay to Hate!

Blane and his "pet frog"

"The fear of the Lord is to hate evil.
Pride and arrogance and perverted speech I hate.
Proverbs 8:13


We all know the illustration of the poor frog who gets put into a pot of boiling water. Well, not that one. He's not so poor; he just jumps out the second he feels the heat. It's the frog who is placed into the pot of cool water that we should feel sorry for. He lies there in comfort, lulled into the water and fooled into thinking that he is taking a Caribbean cruise or something. As the water heats up, he stays there--until he becomes food for some scheming chef!

My creativity has taken a turn for the worse, because I am going to
use this illustration just as many have done in the past. For us
who know and love the Lord Jesus Christ, jumping into a pot of
boiling sin doesn't seem likely. We know better, it looks dangerous,
and we see the evil bubbling over. Who would do something so ridiculous as to leap into sin?

Oh, but then there is the cool, refreshing pot of _________(fill it in for yourself) lurking in the kitchen of life. Just one toe goes in. Feels good! A leg--it's great. Why not just get on in? It really won't hurt anything, no one will know, and besides, it feels good. Life is too short not to indulge once in awhile. Now this frog is lured in and ready for consumption by the scheming chef, the enemy of the faith.

As you may have noticed, I tried to lure a few readers by giving the post a rather blatant title: It's Okay to Hate! But truth be told, and I pray that I will always tell the truth, the Bible says it is.

"Hate evil, and love good......."
Amos 5:15
"...Wickedness is an abomination to my lips"
Proverbs 8:7

The apostle Paul struggled with sin just as we do. He said,

"I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." Romans 7:16
Help! If Paul couldn't keep his feet out of the pot, how can I?

"Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! "
Romans 7:25a

There is an escape route! Sin does not have to have a stranglehold on us, dragging us into the pot. That route is through the Lord Jesus Christ.

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death."
Romans 8:1

The best way to avoid that besetting sin is to keep our feet out of the pot!
Let's keep our feet on Solid Ground today.
Thanks for reading,
Gloria

2 comments:

Charity

Thank God for an escape route!!!

Cranberry Morning

And isn't that just the greatest analogy! So true. We have to keep our eyes on Jesus.

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