Proverbs 6:27-28. 27Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? 28Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?
Have you ever heard the phrase “You can’t play with fire without getting burned.”? That’s basically what this proverb is saying. The immediate context is about committing adultery, but we can also apply this truth to any sin we might desire to commit.
The logic is simple. No, you can’t carry fire next to your chest without catching your shirt on fire. No, you can’t walk on hot coals without burning your feet. And NO you can’t play around with sin and it not hurt you.
The burning here is not God’s punishment for sin, but the corruption of our character through the choices that we make. The natural consequence of playing around with sin is that we lose ourselves in that sin. We become enslaved to it. Our integrity shrivels up and dies over time. Our character crumbles.
Simply put, when we burn inside for sin, we will burn our insides.
Our savior, Jesus, is the only person who never carried fire. He never walked on hot coals. He never sinned. His inner man was never corrupted by his desires or his choices. And yet, on the cross he was burned for us. He took our fire, our hot coals, so that we never have to be completely burned up by our sin.
Through Jesus we are gloriously forgiven and we are being gloriously transformed in our inner man into the likeness of Jesus. Our Father uses all things for our good to conform us to Christ. Even our sin. For where sin abounds, grace abound all the more.
But such grace should never be the excuse for increased sinning, but rather the power to quench the fire of sin’s temptation in our hearts as we allow Christ to satisfy us beyond all we could ask or think.
You: Is there a fire of sin that you are carrying around close to your chest?
You in Christ: How does trusting our union with Christ empower us to fight off temptation?
Christ in you: Think of an area of temptation for you. How can you allow Christ to satisfy you today rather than that sin?
Pray: Father, keep me from the temptation to sin and teach me to trust you as I learn to allow you satisfy me in Christ. Amen.
To Live is Christ 