Many times, in the Christian life, we think about sin; specifically OUR sin. It's always staring us in the face, or at least, should be. But why does sin so often beset us? Is there a weak link in our spiritual chain? The answer is yes. It's called being human. We have weakness of the flesh, which Jesus spoke of many times. But the problem is not that there's sin in the world, as it is the fact that there is sin in us. How does it get there? Well, to be brutally honest, we welcome it, sometimes with open arms. Is there an easy way to shore up the weak spots in our lives? No, but there IS a way, and understanding how sin enters our hearts is the key to closing the gap.
You see, there is an information highway that starts in our mind and ends in our heart. This might seem strange to some, but this pathway is the means by which we make spiritual decisions. Let's look at a couple scriptures:
Gen. 8:10 "And God saw that the wickedness of man had become great in the earth; and every man was lifted up in the imagination of the thoughts of his heart; being only evil continually."
Jer. 7:24 "they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels, and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward."
How interesting; notice how the last verse mentions the word "backward". When you're not moving forward, toward God, you don't just remain at the point you abandoned; you go BACKWARD!
It seems, the heart is the bad guy here; or is it? I looked for a definition of "imagination" and found this in Webster's Dictionary: Imagination-"the act of creating mental images of what has never been actually experienced". So, does all sin fall into this category? Not at all, but the processing of the sin, from our minds to our hearts, is the same in all instances that I can think of. Any unattended thought can be like a monster, waiting to take over. It can be hidden for years, waiting for the right (or worst) moment to emerge. The seed, any vagrant thought, enters our mind, and eventually, if entertained long enough, will find its way to our heart. Imagine this process to be like an acorn from the mighty oak tree. The seed lands in the fertile soil of your mind, and, if left there, will begin to grow roots. The first root a tree grows is the tap root, the strongest root, and then spreads its secondary roots throughout the earth, giving the tree the ability to feed itself, and remain strong and unmovable. Sin, like this tree, once entertained in our minds, will find its way to our heart, where that sin is then sent throughout our entire being. Just as the heart sends life giving blood throughout our whole body, likewise, the spiritual heart will either supply us with spiritual nourishment, or sinful disease. It's our choice; we decide what we feed ourselves. And the consequences involve our eternal well being.
The first point we must understand that there is an evil force in this world that seeks to destroy us, and anything that promotes the Kingdom of God. Though some might joke at Satan, the truth is that he is much more cleaver than any of us are. He's been at his craft for a LONG time. With this in mind, let me present to you, what I believe to be, in part, his plan:
1. Entice us to want things that are contrary to the will of God.
2. Once this desire is created, he continues to fortify that desire.
3. He repeatedly brings this desire to our attention until the desire for that sin outweighs our desire for righteousness.
Throughout this process, Satan seeks to prove to us that holiness is beyond our grasp. Once we accept this lie, we are then content to relax and drift with the flow. Our carnal mind wants to accept the idea that He (God) "made me like I am", so I don't need to try to change, while the Spirit fights to remind us that we were made in the image of God. Let me state here that any thought that enters your mind IS NOT sin. It becomes sin when we entertain it, and allow it to take root in our heart. Vagrant thoughts will find their way to our minds, but it is our job to immediately expel them. Proverbs 23:7 is a very good indicator of this line of thinking: "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he;" Alma reminds us "that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world." One author suggests imagining a television mounted on our heads, so that every thought that we begin to entertain would become visible to all around us. I think, in this scenario, we would be much more cognizant of what's what's going on in there.
So, how do we preserve our hearts to righteous thought and action? By using the same path, from head to heart, only filling the mind with that which is of eternal value. This is what Jesus did to thwart off the devil's advances. Philippians 2:5 concurs: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus;". Jesus spoke the word of God because He was the word, and he knew how to wield it. And we should take note that when Christ refuted Satan, he didn't try to debate him, or outsmart him, but began quoting scripture beginning with "as it is written". So our goal is to fill our minds, constantly, with things of heavenly nature, so that our adversary has no place to insert his temptations. Meditating on the things of eternal value brings peace and strength. Immoral thinking drains away the spiritual power we should have, and causes our souls to be in anguish, which, if left unattended, opens the doors to Satans tricks.
Paul tells us in the Roman letter: "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. " To nurture this peace we must learn to feast upon the words of Christ, and meditate on it regularly. Is this possible? For the most part, but the world beckons us also, so we must continue to seek communion with the Lord as much as possible. Section 58:6d councils us "Verily I say, Men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; for the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves." Remember what it was like when you were engaged? You still worked, had chores, demands from others, but all of these things were secondary, in your heart, to your preparation for the marriage; your focus was the upcoming union between you and your spouse. Likewise, we should be, in our preparations, as the Church, in getting ourselves ready for the coming of bridegroom. It's a mindset- a way of life. A life of purpose. Scripturally, the the duty of the bride is to prepare herself for the bridegroom, and keep herself pure. This is the task we must perform; keeping our hearts and minds pure in preparation for the great day. And the only way to insure success is to be filled with Him.
Simple thoughts? Yes. Simple in application? No. But it is our lot to be here for such a time as this. I believe that we are in the last days, so our being here, at this time, has to be through the providence of God. He has a plan, and you and I are a part of that plan, in whatever capacity he deems according to His will. It is our responsibility to be prepared for the time that He calls our name. We were created, in His image, to do His will. Luke 1:37 reminds us "For with God, nothing can be impossible". Let us believe that He can give us strength to overcome our adversary. Let us remain true to our bridegroom as He prepares to return. Let us stand as one body, the Church, and declare His name to all nations, kindreds, people, and tongues. We were created for the sole purpose of bearing record of Him. To this end, may we labor together. God bless.
