"Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be full of gravel." Proverbs 20:17
Upon arriving early at my son's all day track meet last weekend, I was told that his event wouldn't be taking place for several hours so I decided to go for a much needed run. When I arrived back, I found that my husband had already paid and entered leaving me outside with no money. As I was calling him, one of my son's teammates told me to just go on in saying, "with the way you're dressed you look like a coach and they get in free". When I explained to him how that would be cheating, he laughingly rebutted, "but it's only five bucks." Whether it was five dollars or 500 dollars, I told him, it was wrong-and while it would be easy to just walk right in, it wasn't worth the guilt of knowing that I had been dishonest (not to mention that my actions would have told this young man that it was okay to cheat).
It's funny how the world has different shades of grey when it comes to dishonesty isn't it? It's seems perfectly okay to stiff someone out of five dollars but not fifty or a hundred. Even if a person never gets caught, the bible tells us that there are consequences. Consider these words penned by Soloman, the wisest man to ever live, "Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be full of gravel." He was explaining how 'getting away with something' can seem like a sweet thrill to a person for a time. Eventually though, that excitement is replaced with the reality of sin's aftermath and it's once sweet taste identified for what it truly is... bitter, rotten and rancid.
Thomas Brooks, in his book Voices from the Past, wrote "For the love of one little sin, some have lost God, and their souls forever. Many times small sins are more dangerous. Great sins startle the soul, and awaken it to repentance, but little ones breed and work secretly until they trample the soul. Sin grows by degrees until you cannot prevail over it. O that God would open the eyes of a sinner to see the horrid vileness of all sin."
Heavenly Father, help us to see the importance of avoiding all sin and compromise. Help us to recognize it even when the world cannot or tells us 'it's okay'. Help us to do this so that we might be an example to others of what it means to be a faithful follower that they might see the light of Christ and be drawn to it. Most of all help us to not compromise in the least that we would not sin against you. It's in your precious name we pray, Jesus. Amen.
Happy Running!!!
No Compromise - Planet Shakers
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