Police Devotion 10-16-2019
“But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” (Hebrews 3:13)
Sin does many things in people’s lives, all of them bad. For one, it deceives us. The devil calls our attention to sin’s pleasure while ignoring its consequences. He did that with Eve in the Garden of Eden: “And he [the devil] said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” God had warned, “in the day that thou eatest thereof [of the forbidden tree] thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17). Yet the devil threw her off by saying, “Ye shall not surely die” (Genesis 3:4, boldface added). It was like, “Okay, Eve, God said that, but maybe, hopefully, it won’t happen to you.”
The story goes on, “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise.” The more she thought about enjoying the fruit, the less she thought about God’s warning. As the saying goes, the rest is history: “she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat” (Genesis 3:6).
People “enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season” as Hebrews 11:25 says, and take their chances with consequences. Sometimes they don’t get the consequences they fear. Sometimes drinkers don’t become drunks, gamblers don’t become addicts, adulterers don’t get AIDS, and crooks don’t get caught. Still, sin has a way of coming back somehow. As Numbers 32:23 says, “be sure your sin will find you out.”
One result sin does bring is it hardens people’s hearts. It provokes people to be more rebellious against God and less inclined to honor and obey Him. After Adam ate the fruit, God asked him if he’d eaten it. Adam admitted that he had, but he also said God was partly to blame for giving him Eve: “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” (Genesis 3:12, boldfaces added).
As a cop, you deal so often with sin-hardened, rebellious people. 1 John 5:19 says, “the whole world lieth in wickedness.” How can you possibly live a happy Christian life and not be hard-hearted and bitter with so much sin all around you? Well, you can! Romans 5:20 says, “But where sin abounded, grace did much MORE abound” [capitals added]. Sin is powerful, but God’s grace is more powerful!
“Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within,
Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that is greater than all our sin.”
“Grace Greater Than Our Sin,” Julia H. Johnston, Daniel B. Towner
God can give you grace for this job. Acts 20:32 says, “I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up.” We learn about God’s grace by reading His Word. We experience God’s grace by trusting and obeying His Word. As we read it, memorize it and ponder its truths, and as we believe God’s promises and obey His commands in it, God uses His Word to build us up.
No one lives a perfect Christian life, but as we grow in the knowledge of the Lord and His Word, we grow in God’s grace and gain more and more strength for spiritual battle: “A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength. For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war” (Proverbs 24:5-6). As you grow, you see how God is able to give you grace to live above the sin you deal with on this job.
The first work of grace God does in a person’s life is salvation. If you’ve never seen from the Bible how to have your sins forgiven and an eternal home in heaven by receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, please click “Helpful Links” and then “How Do I Go to Heaven?” on the main menu.
Brian Miller
10/16/2019
Cleveland Baptist Church | 4431 Tiedeman Road, Brooklyn, Ohio 44144 | 216.671.2822
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