Not a Surprising Example of Depravity

One Puritan theologian wrote that Puritan boys "were very like other boys, and their wickedness was a continual trouble to theologians of the day who used them as examples of total depravity and unconverted man." Just goes to show you that nothing much has changed.

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The Root Problem

James 1:14-16 says, But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. (15) Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. (16) Do not err, my beloved brethren. 

James 4:2a says, You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. 

Also, Proverbs 11:6 says, The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, But the unfaithful will be caught by their lust. 

I am reminded of a story as told by radio personality Paul Harvey about how an Eskimo kills a wolf. The account is grisly, yet it offers fresh insight into the consuming, self-destructive nature of sin. "First, the Eskimo coats his knife blade with animal blood and allows it to freeze. Then he adds another layer of blood, and another, until the blade is completely concealed by frozen blood. "Next, the hunter fixes his knife in the ground with the blade up. When a wolf follows his sensitive nose to the source of the scent and discovers the bait, he licks it, tasting the fresh frozen blood. He begins to lick faster, more and more vigorously, lapping the blade until the keen edge is bare. Feverishly now, harder and harder the wolf licks the blade in the arctic night. So great becomes his craving for blood that the wolf does not notice the razor-sharp sting of the naked blade on his own tongue, nor does he recognize the instant at which his insatiable thirst is being satisfied by his OWN warm blood. His carnivorous appetite just craves more--until the dawn finds him dead in the snow!" 

It is indeed a fearful thing that people can be consumed by their own lusts. Only God's grace keeps us from the wolf's fate.

Transformation

Christ takes each sin, each pain, each loss, and by the power of His cross transforms our brokenness and shame; so that our lives exalt His name. — D. De Haan

A Man on Fire

“Preaching is theology coming through a man who is on fire. A man who can speak about these things dispassionately has no right whatsoever to be in a pulpit and should never be allowed to enter one.” - Martin Lloyd Jones

Light of the World

Jesus said in Matthew 5:14, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid."

We need to remember today that the light always shines the brightest when it is the darkest. Maybe instead of complaining, we need to be trimming our wicks.