January 23 - The Addictiveness of Sin

To live in God’s presence, to be in His tabernacle, to dwell on His holy hill, one has to walk blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth from his heart. This is the price of the presence of God. Sin can separate us from the presence of God. The psalmist lists a few sins like slandering, doing evil to the neighbor, taking up reproach against a friend, changing course after swearing to it, putting out money at interest and taking a bribe against the innocent.

The Book of Proverbs further states the addictiveness of sin as a path for one to enter. When one enters a path, he has a tendency to follow. If that path is a path to destruction, his destination has already been determined. If all man are sinners, all they know how to do is to sin. The path of the wicked and the way of the evil are both addictive, the only thing to do about them is to avoid them.

Sinners are addicted to sin, they cannot stop sinning and they cannot begin to do good, as Paul tells us in the Book of Romans. They cannot sleep unless they have done wrong, unless they have made someone stumble. Doing wicked things and violence are like eating and drinking, something they must do in order to sustain their lives. Their way is like deep darkness and they do not know over what they have stumbled.

Sin corrupts the human heart, as Jesus pointed out to his disciples. When we sin repeatedly, strongholds are formed inside and are very hard to remove. These sins are like roots of a plant that grow and grow. Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander and these defile a person’s heart. When the heart and thought are defiled, all that come out of a person are sin and corruption. The words that come out from the heart have the power to defile others, causing more reactive sins in others.

Jesus, the Son of Man, only plants good seeds in the hearts of man. However, the devil also plants his seeds in us, causing us to be addicted to sinning. The parable of the sower and the parable of the wheat and tares show this truth very well. You may have the good seed in your heart but the devil is constantly planting his seeds in you. A bad thought, a feeling of hatred, a burst of anger, are the occasions when the devil plants his seeds in you. When the seeds are planted, they have a way of perpetuating themselves through addictive behaviors.

“Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up”, Jesus taught the disciples how to remove sins in their lives. Is there anything in your heart that has not been planted by the heavenly Father but by the father of lies?