It’s probably rare that we go intentionally looking for sin. For the most part, we’re committed to becoming good men and living faithfully before God. And this is why it can surprise even us when we find ourselves so entangled in various sins. This is not the life we want to live but we’ve been unwittingly seduced into it.
We are seduced when we’re otherwise minding our own business but something else grabs our attention and takes us in a new direction we did not originally intend to go. For instance, the aroma of good food can seduce us and we can find ourselves buying treats we didn’t plan to buy.
In fact, much of effective marketing works this way – making products and services so attractive and appealing to customers’ core desires that they are willing to buy them on the spot. And buyer’s remorse is often that feeling of realizing we’ve simply fallen for the hype of what was being offered but in the end have been left still wanting.
Sin works in a similar way. It’s often packaged in a way that is enticing and appealing to our desires. And these can be good desires, but we’re seduced into pursuing them in ways that are not godly.
And the seduction is often personalized. In many ways, it’s easy to resist generic sins. But it’s much harder to resist when it seems like this is the perfect opportunity made just for us – appealing to our secret but very real desires. How can this be wrong when it seems to meet my every desire so perfectly?
And being so caught up in the seduction we’re no longer thinking straight. We take the bait and soon find ourselves in positions we never thought we would be in.
We protect ourselves from the power of this seduction in part by knowing our own hearts and surrounding ourselves with trusted others.
When we know the desires of our heart we can be intentional about pursuing them in godly ways, rather than risk being taken out by hidden desires. And our trusted others can help us discern if our pursuit is moving us closer toward the light or deeper into darkness.
Don’t be deceived. Know your own heart and surround yourself with trusted others to keep you from falling into the darkness of sin’s seduction.
Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash
