Salvation Summaries

Note: This post is directed primarily towards the male readers of this blog, but if you are a female you are certainly welcome to keep reading.

Ask yourself how often this takes place in your life…

You are scrolling through social media as part of your lunch break, or during a break from work, of after a long day of work, and you see an image in a post or on a reel that catches your attention. The image seems to produce a chemical reaction in your brain, where your brain tells you, “I want that. You will feel better, or excited, if you click on that image.”

For a split second, you realize – through the Holy Spirit (if you are a believer) – that it’s wrong to do so, but like Eve in the garden, the desire is too strong, and you click on the image to “see what happens next.”

The image initially produces some “excitement” in your mind, but maybe not to the degree you thought it would, so you move on to something else. Or, maybe the image produced some excitement, but you begin to realize – through the Holy Spirit – that this is a path you better not go down, so you exit out of it.

You feel safe in doing all of this, since no one is around who can see what you are doing. And, you rationalize that you didn’t do anything wrong, at least technically not, or maybe it was a little bit wrong, but it’s no big deal…

But it is a big deal.

In the book of Ezekiel, God told Ezekiel to tell the people of Israel, “Is that what you are saying? Yes, I know it is, for I know every thought that comes into your minds.”

In the Psalms, David wrote, “O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.”

And in the New Testament, we read the Jesus knew the thoughts of His disciples (Luke 9:47), and the teachers of religious law (Matthew 9:4).

My friend, God knows. He knows not only what you do, but also what you think. He knows what is going in your mind just before you click on an image that you should not have clicked on, or just before you say something you should not have said, or just before you do something you should not have done. There’s nothing you can think or see or say or do that He already doesn’t know about.

And now that you know this, will it change how you live? Will you “think twice” before you commit your next sin? Will you seek Him more so that you will sin less?

Here’s a verse I recommend we all commit to memory (or at least have it written down somewhere where it can be easily and quickly accessed) and recite each morning as we start our day.

Psalm 139:23-24 ²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. ²⁴ Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Prayer

Dear God. Nearly every day I’m faced with temptations, and too often I’ve yielded to too many. Please forgive me. Help me to grow spiritually, so that I can overcome more temptations when they arise. And when they do arise, please put into my mind this thought: God knows. For I really want to think and do and say things that are pleasing to you.

Amen.