Proverbs 6:27-28

Can a man scoop a flame into his lap and not have his clothes catch on fire? Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet?

These seem like pretty stupid questions, don’t they? If you scoop some burning hot coals out of a fire and dump them into your lap, you are going to have a painful problem! If you spread some of those burning hot coals out and then walk on them, that’s going to hurt as well! Who would be so foolish? And if you are that foolish, then you deserve what you get.

This truth is not reserved for the ignoramus…but for every person who plays around with sin.

The famous devotional Our Daily Bread recounts the story of a young boy who was strangled by the family pet. The slender young man had gone upstairs to play with their 11-foot Burmese Python, and…well, you can figure out what happened from there. Sin can be just like that – some “small” thing that seems merely to give pleasure without hurting anyone. At first it seems harmless, but feed it, let it grow, take pride in it, and a little “pet” sin can become a terrible tragedy that “brings forth death” (Jas. 1:15).

Sober-mindedness and self-control are marks of a solid Christian life and for good reason: God knows how easy it is for us to forget that we are playing with fire when it comes to sin. As disciples of Christ, we must check even the smallest evil the moment it springs up in our heart by confessing it to the Lord and asking Him to help us overcome it. Scripture tells us that every temptation is common to man…but it also tells us that our Father in Heaven will always leaves us a way out. You don’t have to scoop the flame into your lap. You don’t have to walk across the hot coals.