After preparing dinner, my husband placed a knife in the sink and told me, “That’s really sharp.”
Mental note. Taken. Sharp knife. Be careful.
I ran some dish water to get a head start on dishes while dinner finished cooking.
Had one kid set the table. Another kid got the drinks.
`I’ll quickly wash these dishes before dinner,’ I thought to myself tossing all the dishes in the sink. I made a mental note as I put the knife in the sink, `That is sharp.’
Well, guess what? Two minutes later I yelled, “Ouch!”
And my husband said, “The knife? I told you it was sharp.”
Then I had this little annoying cut on my finger. And it busted open three times the next day to remind me that the knife was sharp, and I should have been more careful.
I was told the knife was sharp. I knew the knife was sharp. Yet, I still cut myself on that sharp knife.
Sin works the exact same way. Sin is bad. Gossip is wrong. Lying is wrong. You cannot trust a liar.
We know all this…
We have been taught.
We have learned.
We tell ourselves these truths.
Yet, we fall into the traps of those sins so quickly.
Our hearts are wicked. They are deceitful. “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve. Jeremiah 17:9-10).”
No one likes to admit it, but we without Christ, we are all wrecked sinners who deserve the punishment for our sins. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).”
Though we deserve death because of our sins, Jesus took that punishment for our sins. Now we are free to live with Him and for Him! But that doesn’t happen by listening and reminding yourself occasionally.
Just because I heard that the knife was sharp and told myself that the knife was sharp, did not mean that I prevented myself from getting cut. I needed to act differently! I needed to be more careful in that sink and with that knife!
Likewise, we need to do the same with our hearts. There has to be effort in growing in relationship with Christ. We must guard our hearts and fill our hearts with God’s truth, love, friendship, and surround ourselves with people who will help us!