Friday, June 3, 2011
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A few months ago it was "Wild Winter." And then as we got into spring, "Soggy Spring"—the sequel. Oh yeah, we might have thought that we had seen the last of those mountains of snow. Wrong again. In fact, the weather guys had predicted that all that snow would come floating in melted form down our rivers and streams. And there were the floods again! Listen, I lived a long time in a town who has one claim to fame in national newscasts—major flooding. They made it again this year. It's a heartache that we know all too well.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Turn Around, Don't Drown."
You know when it's flood season, the weather people all across the country issue their oft-repeated warning: "Turn around, don't drown." In a matter of minutes, an always-safe bridge or water crossing can suddenly become a torrent of racing flood water, and a death trap for those who think they can cross as usual. Cars, vans, trucks, and even there was even an Amish buggy a few months ago. They can be swept away in a fatal current. So keep it coming, weather guys; tell us when we need to hear it, "Turn around, don't drown."
Actually, that's advice that some folks wish that they had heeded much sooner, morally and spiritually. Few people who have become addicted or adulterous ever expected to get carried away. No one thinks that today's deception, today's "little" compromise of integrity or purity will one day sweep them away in an inescapable flood. Who could guess that a click on a web page, a little flirtation, a lie to get out of a jam would lead to a torrent of expensive consequences?
After national headlines exposed the unfaithfulness of her politician husband, his betrayed wife said this: "You can pick your sin. You can't pick your consequences." Isn't that true!
One TV meteorologist said that the reason people die crossing familiar bridges in flood times is a fatal miscalculation. He said, "They overestimate the power of their car, and they underestimate the power of the water."
Let's tweak that just a little to identify what makes even spiritual giants fall farther than they ever dreamed: "They overestimate their power to resist, and they underestimate the power of sin." The inexorable progression of spiritual seduction and disaster goes like this in James 1:15, "Desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."
And our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Corinthians 10:12 sounds this alarm: "If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall." There's probably someone who's hearing this today, who's driving very close to the edge of the flood. Flirting with those famous last words, "I can handle it." No, you can't. Listen to these words from Genesis. Take it, if necessary, as a personal warning, "Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it" (Genesis 4:7).
Turn around. Don't drown. Please.