Purify Your Mind Series (Part 3) by Joe Kirbyნიმუში

Sweetness in Christ

"For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil; But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword." (Proverbs 5:3–4)

The Bible is the most honest book on earth. The Bible does not lie and try to cover the truth like other books do when they try to promote their own agenda. No, the Bible bluntly says sin is sweet, there is pleasure in sin, and lust does taste sweet in the beginning. The English clergyman William Gurnall said, “What lust is so sweet or profitable that is worth burning in hell for?”* The smoothness of sexual sin quickly turns abrasive, and if we go against the grain of God’s laws, we will get splinters.

However, there is a sweetness that never fades—the sweetness is found in Christ alone. He can transform the foulest situation into something beautiful. Consider Samson’s lion carcass with me (see Judg. 14). What could be more ugly than a dead, rotting lion, decomposing in the dry, arid wilderness? But what did Samson find in that carcass? A beehive that oozed delicious honey. This reminds us that with Christ, there is always a sweetness in death. Although death is the final enemy, Christ has defeated that enemy when He triumphed over the grave. For the believer, there is always sweetness when we finish, for Christ has removed the sting of death. Lust’s sweetness quickly evaporates, but Christ’s sweetness is unceasing, like the vastest ocean. Whose sweetness will you explore today?

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!" (Psalm 34:8–9)

* William Gurnall, The Complete Gathered Gold: A Treasury of Quotations for Christians (Darlington, UK: Evangelical Press, 2007).