Don’t Do It…But If You Do…

His track record speaks for itself. Patriarch’s like Abraham have fallen victim to his schemes.  He’s brought leaders like Moses to his knees.  He led king David to commit adultery and murder. He even got Jesus’ disciples to run away from him the night before he died. The devil is powerful, and history is littered with his victims. He is real and he is dangerous.

There can be no more sobering a thought than to know the devil has you in his crosshairs. He knows your patterns and weaknesses.  He knows your schedule and you can be sure he has a plan to take you down.  The devil would love it if you underestimated his power or the dangers of falling to his temptations.
“It’ll feel good,” he says, but what he doesn’t tell you is that the good feeling is fleeting but the guilt will be overwhelming.  “No one will know,” he says, but God will, and so will your conscience.  “It’s just a little sin,” he says, but what he doesn’t tell you is that every sin carries the penalty of death and can potentially pull you away from Jesus forever.  The devil is real and sin, any sin is eternally deadly. I’ll say it plainly,

“don’t do it…

…but if you do…

…and because you have, you need to know there is a way out.

His name is Jesus, the Righteous One. There is no sin so great that it’s not atoned for by his death on the cross.  There is no sinner so overwhelmed with guilt that he cannot be reconciled with the Creator through Jesus.  You have an advocate named Jesus, who has a track record of righteousness. He has destroyed the devil and his work. And at this moment, he is sitting at the right hand of God with nail marks on his glorious, resurrected body that confirm to all of heaven, but also to you…you are forgiven.  In Jesus, you are forgiven.

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.– 1 John 2:1-2

See previous devotions HERE.

Don’t Do It…But If You Do…