It’s A Hard Knocks Life

(For The Wicked)

 

    So many times I have stated, and heard other preacher’s state, that the Christian life is not always the easiest. There is a valid reason for this practice…Jesus told us that we must each choose between the wide, easy way (life of sin) that leads to destruction, and the narrow, difficult way (path of righteousness) that leads to life. Truly there will be “few who find” that difficult path that leads to everlasting life. There are things, such as self sacrifice, that make the Christian’s life somewhat difficult, but today let’s focus on the difficulties of a sinful life.

 

   A “proof text” for this idea could be Proverbs 13:15, which states: “Good understanding giveth favor; But the way of the transgressor is hard (Proverbs 13:15). In one of my classes at the local jail in Greenville, the inmates and I spent several minutes listing any sins we could think of. After each newly mentioned sin, we stopped and listed all the ways that each sin could make our lives harder. For every single one, we were able to come up with multiple negative consequences.

 

   Another proverb reads, “Disaster pursues sinners, but the righteous are rewarded with good (Proverbs 13:21). It is disastrous when adultery enters the sanctity of marriage. It is disastrous when men and women begin even casual use of alcohol or drugs.  It is disastrous when people lie to those around them. We can follow these and all other sins to their logical ends and we will find disaster most every time.   “But the righteous are rewarded with good.”

 

   If disaster is pursuing you because of your “treacherous” (ESV) ways, there is a Biblical “escape plan” in place for you. “Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you (James 4:7-8). When you resist the temptations of sin and turn to God, the devil turns and runs, while God draws nearer to you. The path that leads to life is narrow and difficult, but the one who travels that path diligently will reach a glorious, eternal reward (John 14:1-4). 

 

- - - - Darrell Powell