Title: The Downward Slide/Topic: Sinfulness

Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 6; 2 Chronicles 3; Psalm 97; Romans 1

Scripture: Romans 1:28-32
28 Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Observation: When people consider the knowledge of God to be something unimportant and not worth pursuing (irrelevant), they put themselves in a position of resisting God. This leads to a downward slide into all kinds of sinfulness. The sin can vary from being a gossip, arrogant and boastful to murder. It is important to note that in verse 28, the expression “he (God) gave them over to a depraved mind”, actually means God stops resisting their choices. He stops trying to call them back and lets them have full control over their behavior. It's like a parent whose teenager keeps sneaking out of the house to do wrong things trying to bolt the doors and windows. When the child gets around all these deterrents and demonstrates a determination to do wrong, the parent finally stops driving themselves crazy trying to protect the child and lets him experience the full consequences of their choices.

Application: It is simple. I need to guard my heart from becoming hard, stubborn and rebellious. I am in danger of losing God's protection and His Spirit speaking to me and convicting me of wrong if I don't value the knowledge of God.

Prayer: Father, I will humble myself before you and be grateful when your Spirit convicts me of sin because I know that your purpose for that is to keep me on the path of greatest blessing. Help me to teach others to keep their hearts soft also.A
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.