Defense Strategies II

by Mark Waltenbaugh

    Accidents that involve rear-end collisions take place every day on our streets and highways. With one simple choice, most of these could be avoided. Some are caused due to distractions, others because of visual limitations (hills or curves), but most happen because we follow the cars ahead of us too closely. I bet you do. I know I do too many times. If every driver would simply chose to maintain a safe distance, we could virtually wipe out rear-end collisions. But we don't. Why?

    Sometimes we're in a hurry and so we "push" the driver ahead of us by tailgating, hoping they'll speed up when they see we're so close. In heavy traffic our competitiveness takes over and we don't want anyone to "get in ahead of us" so we take away the space by staying right behind the car we're following. More dangerous still is the mindset that tells us we will be able to stop if something should happen, no matter how close we follow. Whatever the reason, the fact remains that we just won't chose to keep our distance.

    I believe the same principle applies to the sins in our lives that involve some sort of physical pleasure or satisfaction. We simply won't chose to avoid the thing(s) that cause us to sin. We stay in the same circle of friends that drink and take drugs because we don't want to be a snob... or we think we can just say no. We keep meeting a person we're not married to in private places and think we'll avoid any improper intimacy this time. We buy foods that we've over eaten time and time again but refuse to keep them out of our cupboards.

    If we expect to stay clear of the sins of the flesh -- those physical pleasures that aren't blessed by the Creator -- we'd better be willing to make the choice to keep our distance. Identify the specific things that draw you into the lust of the flesh and make a covenant to stay clear! Stop going to the stores where you buy those magazines. Find a new circle of friends that have a higher calling. Freshen up your resume and find a new job where those physical temptations don't exist. Stop meeting him or her in private -- and if you're already married, stop meeting them all together!

    Can you make the tough choices?

Father, help us to identify the things that tempt us physically. We desire to be holy and know we'll have to make tough choices in order to avoid those things that cause us to sin. We haven't done that well in the past. We haven't been willing to stay clear. Our desire is to change that and keep our distance. We ask for you blessing as we honor your boundaries. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Posted: 05/22/2001
URL: http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200105/20010522_defense2.html

(c) Copyright 2001, Mark Waltenbaugh, used by permission. From "The Online Devotional" mailing list. To join, send an email to <thedsmith@aol.com> with the subject "SUBSCRIBE TO DEVO."

(c) 1996-2006, Heartlight, Inc.