07.16.02

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 1:14-15.

For the wages of sin is death. - Romans 6:32a.

As I was searching for material for this devotional I found a site that documents visibly the downward spiral sin takes a person on. Through 12 police mug shots of a woman taken at the time of her arrests over several years it is obvious how sin has taken its toll on her. King Saul also experienced the downward spiral. Because of Saul’s sin the kingdom was wrenched from him and given to David. However, the transition took several years. During this time Saul became more and more evil and you would think that he had much in common with Hitler and Saddam Hussein.

Saul reached the point in his downward spiral recorded in 1 Samuel 22:17 that he ordered the massacre of the Lord’s priests. Saul says to his men, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand is also with David, and because they knew when he fled and did not tell it to me.” Saul’s soldiers feared Saul but they feared God more and refused to kill the priests. However, there was an evil man there, Doeg, who when told to kill the priests by King Saul immediately began executing them - 85 in all. But that wasn’t the end of it. Saul then went to Nob the city where the priests lived and executed everyone who lived there men, women, boys, and girls and burned the city to the ground.

Sin results in death and death is a very ugly thing when we have to live it out. The truth of the downward spiral is that if we feed sin, and nourish sin, the spiraling down is accelerated. To stop the downward plunge we must stop feeding the sin in our lives. Cut off the sin from its food supply and it will die and you will live. If you are reading this message and you have a desire to turn away from the sin that is destroying your life then it is not too late. Ask God to help you to turn around and go the other way. The upward spiral leads to life. The closer we come to God the closer He comes to us. The more we have Jesus in our lives the more life we have. The more we read, study, meditate, memorize, and hear God’s Word the more life we have. The more time we spend in prayer communicating with our Lord the more life we have. The more time we spend in fellowship with other Christians the more life we have. The more time we spend lifting the burdens of others, being the hands and feet of our Lord here on planet earth, the more life we have.

The downward spiral to death or the upward spiral to life - it’s your choice!