it's just a step off the path

28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.


The wicked are looking for a few good men......literally! In our daily lives we are hit with the onslaught of wickedness. If we read this passage some might be surprised at the groupings of the wicked. Gossips, boastful people, envious people, are put in the same group as murderers, God-haters, and faithless people? Remember to God sin is sin, it is humans that make a distinction. We put "rules" on what is worse than the other, not God. I bring this up, because it is the "little" sins, the ones that we feel "are not that bad"; they are the ones that lead to the big ones.

No one starts off a junkie, they ease in to it. Much in the same way man does not just make a 90 degree turn off the path of the Lord. It happens in degrees, it starts with half a foot, off the path, then a whole foot, next thing you know your just walking beside it. You convince yourself that you can walk right beside the path and be safe...it is only a white lie......you had the best intentions when you were talking about that person.....so you continue to drift off the path, you find that now you can just barely see it.....but that is ok, as long as you keep it in sight! So what if you just started the latest lie in the rumor mill.....that person deserved it! You are better than any of them any way!........the next time you look up, the path took a turn to the right when you were not looking, and now it is gone.......you have lost sight, you are in the weeds, and you are now a junkie!

It is just that simple, sometimes what starts out as harmless, ends up as life changing events. Even the devil started off as an angel, and we have both at work in our lives. The wicked want us just as much as the Lord does. What tends to make things harder, is what Paul talks about, the wicked don't just practice evil, but they encourage others! It is far more accepted in many circles in this world to run with the wicked, it is easier, it is self-serving, and most of all the lure is very subtle at first. Make no mistake folks, that enticement leads to death.


Peace,
Rev. Thetford