Avoiding the Path of Sin

Verses: James 1  : 12 - 18

My thoughts about the verses:

Imagine standing at the edge of a cliff.  You have two choices.  You can choose to turn back around and retrace your steps.  You can also choose to just jump and see where you land.

Now you may be saying I really didn’t have a choice in this situation.  Jumping off the cliff is going to most likely lead to me getting hurt if not killed.  Retracing my steps will at least get me back to where I was on the path before I got to the cliff.

Yet, how did we get to the cliff’s edge?  We didn’t just wake up and immediately find ourselves on the edge.  We actually had to take a path to get there.  Is it possible that we could have stopped ourselves before we got to the edge? 

Obviously we didn’t have to take the path that led us to the very edge.  Yet, how hard is it to make that choice?  In one way or the other we all take risks each and every day.  We all do things that are just outside the box.  We take a chance to go down the curvy, bumpy path thinking that we will be fine. 

This is how sin comes into our life.  We get to the edge by following our own desires.  We think that what we are doing is worth the risk.  We have a tendency to be riskier as our life is not affected.  We end up taking the path that leads to the edge of the cliff.  The cliff in this situation is dying in sin. 

God didn’t tempt us down this path.  We chose the twist and turns we wanted to take.  God was there to guide us back to the path we needed to be on.  Yet, we kept going down the road that led us to sin. 

We all have the choice in our life to stop where we are and let Jesus be our guide.  Jesus will not lead us to the edge of the cliff.  Instead of dying in sin we live in grace.  We do have the choice and when we chose to follow Jesus our life changes forever.  We will soon find that we are no longer by ourselves.  When we are tempted God is there helping us choose the right path.  We live without fear and doubt.  The path is no longer curvy and bumpy instead it is straight and even. 

Prayer:

We praise you God for your love.  We thank you for your guidance.  Help us not go astray.  Be with us and guide us throughout our life.  In the Saviors Holy Name we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Are you allowing God to be your guide?  Are you on a path that you need to back out of?  Are you standing on the Edge of death in sin or life in grace?