Monday, November 7, 2011
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When I spoke at a winter conference in Canada, the word cold took on a whole new meaning to me. It was 40 degrees below—that's Fahrenheit, not wind chill temperature! We added the wind chill in just to make it a little more exciting. It was the coldest, sustained temperature I have ever been in.
Now, I'll tell you, I hate to wear hats. I hate to wear hoods. Oh, but I learned fast. I was talking to a teenager in the dinner line, and he told me that two days before, he had been out for one minute in that weather, he'd come in, tried to warm up his ear and literally broke the cartilage in his ear. It had quick-frozen; freeze dried in one minute. Right after that, I had about a three-minute walk ahead of me. Guess what? Even though I had come in with my parka hood off, after hearing that, I could love a parka hood. Oh, I wore it; you bet I did. I didn't realize that you could do permanent damage like in no time!
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "It Doesn't Take Long to Freeze."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes right out of the life of King David. It's in 2 Samuel 11:1-4. "In the spring at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army. But David remained in Jerusalem. One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful." Now, we know that David sent for her and it says in verse 4, "David sent messengers to get her. She came to him," and then these tragic game-changing words, "and he slept with her."
These are probably some of the sorriest verses in the Bible. Here's David, the man who is described as the man after God's own heart. And up to this point there is one glorious victory after another. And then, suddenly he freezes spiritually, and it didn't take long to freeze—one night. Later David repented; he was forgiven, but the glory of his life would never be the same again. From this moment on his life will be marred by death, and guilt, and a prodigal son, a litany of heartaches, tragedy after tragedy in his family, and it did not take long—one spiritual day off.
Now, if it could happen to David it could happen to me and it could happen to you. Oh, it may or may not be a sexual sin that could capture you, although that's a pretty powerful one. It could be an act of bitterness or revenge, maybe just one dishonest deal that's so tempting right now, a momentary relaxing of your convictions—just once, a harmless flirtation. But a lifetime of honor can be lost in a night time. What took years to build can be torn down in moments. It happened to David; it could happen to you.
The moral is simple: you can't afford one day off spiritually. Begin each day...begin every day in the personal presence of your Savior, Jesus, who is mighty to save and mighty to save you from the sin of that day. A busy day, a boring day, a day you're away from home, a down day, a vacation day, a special day. No matter what the day, begin it in the presence of Jesus whether you feel like it or not. If you don't feel like it, you probably need to even more. Keep your confessed sin up-to-date as of that morning. Anticipate the temptations that you may face that day. Consecrate your weaknesses to Him and then turn on your spiritual radar so it's working that entire day.
Be sure you don't leave without your spiritual armor on, or your spiritual hood up if you prefer, because believe me, it doesn't take long to freeze.