Hebrews 3.13
But exhort one another every day,
as long as it is called “today,”
that none of you may be hardened
by the deceitfulness of sin.
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One major difficulty with my sin is that I am often blinded to it. Sin has a way of numbing me and blinding me. Like Eve in the Garden, I can believe that it is good, or at very least, that my sin is “okay” for me (Genesis 3.6). And even if I know it’s not even “okay” for me, I will convince myself that it is at least “not that bad.”
Sin is sweet to my flesh, and it’s also easy to minimize it by comparing it to others’ sins. I might know that the general category of this sin is wrong, but I can easily justify my actions and thoughts by finding ways to explain why it’s okay in my situation.
My flesh will never try
to convince me in broad terms
that a particular sin is not wrong,
but it will try to convince me
that my instance
of that particular sin
is an exception.
The four most deadly words
I can say concerning sin:
“but this is different.”
God’s Word tells me that my own heart deceives me above all things and can’t be trusted (Jeremiah 17.9), and that it has a way that will always seem right to me, but in the end, it is truly the way to death (Proverbs 14.12). As long as I walk in this, I will walk in blindness and numbness, and I won’t be able to see the beauty of or taste the goodness of Christ and His Gospel.
Christ is never sweet
till sin is felt to be bitter.
-Thomas Watson, 1620-1686
The Good News is that God doesn’t leave me in a place of hopeless blindness. Our text today tells me that God has put others in my life to “exhort one another every day” so I would not be hardened by sin’s deception. God loves me so much that He has put people who love Him and who love me in my life to help me see and behold Him.
The Gospel gives me hope that even though I know I have blind spots in my life right now, the Spirit inside of me, because of His love for me, will reveal those areas and walk me out of darkness and into the light.
Read Again Out Loud and Make it into a Prayer:
Hebrews 3.13
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Personalize and Read or Pray Aloud:
Psalm 115.1–11
1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love
and your faithfulness!
2 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases.
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
5 They have mouths, but do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
6 They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
7 They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make
a sound in their throat.
8 Those who make them become like them;
so do all who trust in them.
9 O Israel, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
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Pray Aloud:
Father, help __________ to
glorify You in every way.
Reveal Your beauty in _________
as it is in Heaven.
Give _________ daily bread,
and thank You for
Your undeserved mercy.
Help us to forgive others.
Keep __________heart soft for You,
for Your Word, for prayer,
and for those that You put in their life,
that they may keep their heart
from evil and sin.
Thank You for Your grace and mercy.
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