It Is Designed to Kill You - The Crosswalk Devotional - September 30

It Is Designed to Kill You
By Clarence L. Haynes, Jr.

“…but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” – Genesis 2:17

After Adam was created, God gave him this one command to follow. It was the only thing he had to obey. Unfortunately, we all know how this turned out. When God gave Adam this command, he was attempting to protect Adam from something he was unaware of, which is sin. God knew the moment Adam ate the fruit, sin would enter the world, and nothing would ever be the same again. For this reason, it is crucial to understand the impact of sin and how it can impact your walk with the Lord.

Sin That Kills
There is one phrase I want you to pay attention to because this underscores the impact of sin as succinctly as possible…you will certainly die. We know from the story that after eating the fruit, Adam didn’t just drop dead yet something died. In the Bible, when they talk about death, it means separation. Physical death is when your spirit is separated from your body, but this didn’t happen when Adam ate, there was a different kind of separation, a spiritual one. The moment Adam ate the fruit, his relationship and fellowship with God were separated. That’s why before he ate the fruit, he could stand in God’s presence but afterward, he had to hide. His decision to sin had killed his intimacy with God. This is the reality of sin in your life now and why it must be avoided at all costs.

If you continue in sin, it is going to kill something in your life. It may not cost you your life immediately, though it could, it will cost something. Sin can kill families, it can kill relationships, it can kill visions, it can kill dreams, it can kill reputations, it can kill ministries, and it can kill careers. There is nothing positive that will ever result from indulging in sin because that is not the nature of sin.

Recently in my house, we had an ant problem. Somehow, they had gotten to the second floor and were in my son’s room. To remedy this situation, I purchased a liquid ant bait. The way the bait works is it attracts the ants with a sweet liquid that causes the ants to eat it. The ants believe they are getting a sweet treat, but the liquid is laced with a slow-acting poison. It doesn’t kill the ants right away it takes about forty-eight hours for the poison to kick in. The goal is for the ants to take some back to their colony, share it with the other ants and hopefully the queen, and by doing this, eliminate the colony. What was sweet to the taste will ultimately be their destruction (at least I hope so because I am not a fan of having ants in my house).

This is exactly how sin works. It presents itself as something sweet and pleasing to the eye, so it entices you to indulge in it. However, it is really a slow-acting poison that is designed to bring destruction to your life. It desires to destroy you and everything you are associated with, and it plays no favorites or spares no one. This is the danger of sin.

“…but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” – James 1:14-15

Intersecting Faith and Life:
For all of us, certain sins are more tempting than others. For some of us, we have even been overcome by them. When tempted, you may even wonder if it is worth resisting because the experience may look and feel so good. My friends don’t fall for the trap. Sin is a sweet-smelling and even sweet-tasting bait that is looking to take you down. Sin is designed to kill you. Regardless of how difficult it may be to resist, do it. Even if you have failed before, that does not mean you have to fail again. The reason you can resist is that you have the Holy Spirit living inside you. This is your power source which gives you the ability to say no.

To resist, you may have to run or look foolish in some way because you are going against the motivations of the world and the impulses of your flesh. Do it anyway. The momentary pleasure is not worth the pain and destruction sin will bring. Whatever sin is calling you or tempting you to do, let today be the day you take a stand against it by the power of the Holy Spirit. You can do it. You should do it. You must do it. You better do it. The seeds of sin, when planted, can feel good; however, the harvest they reap is often painful. God, who wanted to protect Adam wants to do the same for you. After all, if it did not work out so well for Adam, it won’t work out well for you either.

Further Reading:
Genesis 2
James 1

Clarence L. Haynes Jr. is a speaker, Bible teacher, and co-founder of The Bible Study Club. He is the author of The Pursuit of Purpose which will help you understand how God leads you into his will. His most recent book is The Pursuit of Victory: How To Conquer Your Greatest Challenges and Win In Your Christian Life. This book will teach you how to put the pieces together so you can live a victorious Christian life and finally become the man or woman of God that you truly desire to be. Clarence is also committed to helping 10,000 people learn how to study the Bible and has just released his first Bible study course called Bible Study Basics. To learn more about his ministry please visit clarencehaynes.com.