Consent Not

My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:
We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:
Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:
For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.
So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.


Pro 1:10-19


Consent not.


Have you ever gone against your better judgment in situations where others are tempting you to do things that are inappropriate? Have you ever gone along with others at their urging to do something wrong? Seriously. Have you been guilty of this on a lesser level than robbery? In small things do we consent to sinners when we're enticed by them? When we know right from wrong, when our hearts convict us of right from wrong and yet we still do things unbecoming of a Christian, what does that say? Our faith is weak? We are weak? We are treading on dangerous ground when we follow a path that isn't of God and we know it. But to live in this world today it seems like it is the ONLY path to follow unless we run to the hills to become hermits without any outside influences to tempt us in the ways of the world.


Paul talked about how it was better to remain unmarried because the heart could be fully God's that way and not torn between God and an ungodly spouse. The Bible says how it's better to lose everything and gain eternity. The Word also says the way is narrow. We are told that mothers, brother, sisters, fathers, daughters and sons will all be capable of pulling us from the right way. Yet we don't want to think of things like that, we just don't. We want to believe we can have it all and yet with it all comes a lot of compromising and we try to believe the compromises will be accepted, that God will understand.


In our weekly Bible study we talked about how narrow the path is and how few that are going to find it and it's no wonder at all is it. In a delusional mind, in a mind clouded by half-truths and false hopes people believe they're good and they're going to heaven no matter what but the Bible paints a different story. The words came from our Savior's lips--


Mat 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.


FEW. This is from our Savior Himself! FEW. So why do so many have the attitude that it's easy and everyone will eventually find eternal life?


Proverbs 1:10-19 talks about temptation to evil... about consenting to sinners enticing. By the grace of God may we NOT consent and by His grace may we not be the ones doing the tempting. May we seek the Lord and the narrow way the strait gate, may we find life in Him and Him alone in love. By His mercy.


Amen.