Sunday, April 17, 2011

A Worm In The Apple Part II

“Guard your heart above all else,
      for it determines the course of your life.”   Prov. 4:23   NLT

When you see a person who has failed in some way outwardly, you know there was failure in the inner life.

What is on the inside will eventually manifest on the outside.  If we fail to deal with secret sins, they will eventually be made public.

We have all experienced or know someone who has bitten into an apple and found a worm.   The outside of the apple did not reveal a hole or entry point.

So, how did the worm get inside the apple?

Scientists have discovered that the worm comes from the inside.  When the apple tree was in blossom an insect laid an egg in the apple blossom.   Sometime later, the worm hatches in the heart of the apple, then eats its way out.

Like the worm, sin begins in the heart and works out through our behavior, thoughts, words and actions.
Just like the worm, hidden sins can eat away at the heart and leave us spiritually dead and ultimately lead us to a physical death.   That’s how hidden sins work on us.
As the dog returns to his vomit, some people will return to their destructive ways in order to fulfill their fleshly desires, even after they have seen evidence of how destructive their choices have been.
Hidden sins when left unexposed will continue to do its dirty work such as:  destroying our families, opening the door to curses, giving opportunity to Satan and separating us from God.
A person who has a ‘small’ sin in their life and it may not appear to be hurting them because they are still attending church, fooling everyone around them, they are popular and a ‘good’ person, so how can that ‘small’ sin really hurt them if they can control it?
For a long time that ‘small’ sin won’t seem to make any difference.  But like the worm in the apple, the egg was laid in the blossom while still on the tree.  Then over time the apple began to grow around the egg and for a long time that apple looked just as shiny as the other apples on the tree.
But something was happening on the inside of the apple that no one could see. The worm had hatched and was eating his way out of the apple.
Only in the last stages could the effect be seen.   By then the worm had damaged the apple until it was totally worthless.    Rotten Fruit!
When a person justifies their sin instead of repenting, backsliding has begun!  They will become more and more distant from God even while still going to church, going through the motions and pretending to be a Christian.   Their hearts have become hard and far removed from God.
Sinful ways can take over our thoughts and eventually consume our hearts.   We know it is true that out of the heart are the issues of life.
We will not get away with sin….hidden sins have the power to destroy our lives.
There is a way to avoid returning to our vomit and the pig pen.  It is called repentance.  I John 1:9 God is faithful to forgive if we will confess our sins.
It’s embarrassing to even talk about what certain persons do in secret.  But everything exposed to the light is revealed by the light.”  Eph. 5:12-13   Common English Bible

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