Resources/Articles
It's Time To Draw The Line
With her enticing speech she caused him to yield, with her flattering lips she seduced him. Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks, till an arrow struck his liver. As a bird hastens to the snare, he did not know it would cost his life.
Proverbs 7:21-23
Yielding to temptation carries you further than you want to go, costs you more than you want to pay, and keeps you longer than you want to stay. If sin is to be avoided, we must be able to interrupt the sequence of events described in James 1:14,15: “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lusts and enticed. Then, when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” You do this to yourself. No one pulls you into it. You place yourself there by choice. If you understand what sin does, you will see the need to “draw the line” and refuse to cross it. It is usually “after the fact” that most people hate or bemoan a sin that has been committed. What would be great is to have the same intensity of hate when we are approached with temptation so we could prevent the act from happening…
When are you going to draw the line and say to yourself, “This is enough! I have had it!” Making a decision like that is more than a vague feeling, “I shouldn’t do that.” Rejecting sin requires that we gather ourselves together, decide upon our course of action, and refuse to commit the act. Stop having a conversation with your conscience and start listening to what God is telling you is the right way to live (Proverbs 14:12; Isaiah 55:6-9). Do not see how close you can get to the line without crossing it. See how close you can get to God (James 4:7,8).
