BBD 09.22.06 Sinking in the Mud
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
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The Burning Bush Devotional
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09.22.06
Sinking in the Mud
(Originally sent 04.24.01 - Rewritten for today.)
Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be
tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted
when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has
conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings
forth death. - James 1:13-15.
The creek waters were only a foot deep where the two large earthmovers were
making emergency repairs to the Haikey Creek Bridge in Tulsa. But then the
track came off one of the machines and it began to sink in the mud. They
tried to pull the sinking earthmover out with the other machine but it too
began to sink. Daryl Maxville, a maintenance supervisor said, "They were
pretty well buried. The only thing you could see was the cab." Workers built
a temporary dam and were finally able to rescue their equipment. One of the
operators said that "working in the creek wasn't a big problem until the mud
worked its way through the creek bed."
For Christians there is a lot of mud out there that we must avoid and it all
begins with just a little mud. There is so much mud around us on TV, and on
the Internet. It is easy to grow used to having the mud around us. Stepping
in some mud here and stepping in some there. We become so used to the mud
that before long we are wading in it up to our waists and before we know
what has happened it has sucked us under.
It has been said that if you "sow a thought you will reap an act. Sow an
act; reap a habit. Sow a habit; reap a character. Sow a character, reap a
destiny." Romans 13:14 says, "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no
provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." Another translation says,
"Rather clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about
how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature." That is where the mud
starts with the thoughts and the dwelling and contemplating upon those
sinful desires.
A literal translation of James 1:15 would be, "Desire, having conceived,
continually gives birth to sin, and sin, when it reaches maturity,
continually gives birth to death." As you can see, it goes quickly from bad
to worse. Before you throw a track and start sinking in the mud of sin put
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Instead of thinking about all of the mud start
thinking about the good things as the apostle Paul suggests in Philippians
4:8, "Finally, brethren, whatever, things are true, whatever things are
noble, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if
there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on
these things." There is nothing better to think about than our Lord Jesus
and His Word.
What have you been thinking about lately? What have you been watching and
listening to lately? Remember it does not take very much mud at all to begin
to cause all kinds of problems. Before you take that next step - watch out
for the mud!
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website has been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998 the email
version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.
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