" It happens in an instant.
One minute you're walking and whistling, the next you're wide-eyed and falling. Satan yanks back the manhole cover, and an innocent afternoon stroll becomes a horror story. Helplessly you tumble, aware of the fall but unable to gain control. You crash at the bottom and stare blankly into the darkness. You inhale the evil stench and sit in Satan's sewage until he spits you out and you land, dumbfounded and shell-shocked, on the sidewalk.
Such is the pattern of sudden sin.
Can you relate to it?
Very few sins are premeditated and planned. Very few of us can qualify for Satan's strategy team. We spend our time avoiding sin, not planning it. But don't think for a moment that, just because you don't want to fall, you won't. Satan has a special trick for you, and he only pulls it out when you're not looking. Don't expect this demon of demons to challenge you to a duel. No sir. He fights dirty. He is the master of the trapdoor and the author of week moments. He wait until you defense is down and then.... You fall.
You lose your temper. You lust. You take a drag. You buy a drink. You kiss the boy or girl. You follow the crowd. You rationalize. You say yes. You sign your name. You forget who you are. You walk into her room. You look in the window. You break your promise. You buy the magazine. You lie. You covet. You stomp your feet and demand your way. You deny your master.
It's David, disrobing Bathsheba. It's Adam accepting the fruit from Eve. It's Abraham lying about Sarah. It's Peter denying that he ever knew Jesus. It's Noah, drunk and naked in his tent. It's Lot, in bed with his own daughters.
It's your worst nightmare. It's sudden. It's sin.
Satan numbs our awareness and short-circuits our self-control.
We know what we're doing, and yet, can't believe we are doing it.
We want to stop, but haven't the will to do so.
We want to turn around, but our feet won't move.
We want to run, and pitifully, we want to stay.
It's the teenager in the back seat. It's the alcoholic buying "just one". It's the boss touching his secretary's hand. The husband walking into the porn shop. The mother losing her temper. The father beating his child. The gambler losing his money. The Christian losing control. And it's Satan gaining a foothold.
Confusion. Guilt. Rationalization. Despair.
It all hits, and hits hard.
We numbly pick ourselves up and stagger back into the world.
"Oh God. What have I done?"
"Should I tell someone?"
"I'll never do it again."
"My God. Can you forgive me?"
No one who is reading these words is free from the treachery of sudden sin. No one is immune to his trick or perdition. This Demon of hell can scale the highest monastery wall. Penetrate the deepest faith, and desecrate the purest home.
Some of you know exactly what I mean.
You could write these words better than I, couldn't you?
Some of you, like me, have tumbled so often that the stench of Satan's breath is far from a novelty.
You've asked for God's forgiveness so often that you worry that the well of mercy might run dry. Want to sharpen your defense a bit?
--First. Recognize Satan.
our war is not with flesh and blood but with Satan himself.
Do like Jesus did when Satan met him in the wilderness.
Call him by name. Rip off his mask. Denounce his disguise.
He appears in the most innocent of clothing:
a night out with a boy, a good book, a popular movie, a pretty neighbor. But don't let him fool you! When the urge to sin rears its ugly head, look him in the eye and call his bluff. Whatever you do, don't flirt with the fallen angle. He'll thresh you like wheat.
--Second. Accept God's forgiveness.
Romans 7 is the Emancipation Proclamation for those of us who have a tendency to tumble. Look at verse 15:
"I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do."
Sound familiar? Read on. Verses 18 and 19:
"For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do - this I keep on doing."
Man, that fellow has been reading my diary!
"What a wretched man am I! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" (verse 24)
Is there no oasis in this barrenness of guilt?
There is. Read verse 7:25 and 8:1.
"Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord!
....Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!"
Amen. There it is. For those in Christ there is no condemnation. Absolutely none.
Claim the promise.
Memorize the words.
Accept the cleansing.
Throw out the guilt.
And Praise your father. "
Some parts are found in the book; Shaped by God; by Max Lucado.