The situation in NYC in the 1950s was beyond horrible. Every corner was leaking trouble. One of the worst things happening there was the drug pushers who waited outside the schools to get the kids hooked onto heroin, ultimately. A naive kid would be approached by a drug seller. The drug seller would start him on something 'safe', but quickly got the kid started on heroin. The drug pusher gave the kid free samples and eventually the kid was addicted. At that point, the child either had to resort to crime in order to pay for his new habit, or he had to become a drug pusher himself/herself in order to pay for the habit. In other words, last week, he was just an innocent student. This week, out of necessity, he is a drug pusher.
Many students in NYC died from drug overdoses. Being on heroin is so horrible, and if one becomes a 'mainliner' he or she can never get off unless detoxification takes place (which, in itself, is beyond horrible).
Lots of people died because they got onto heroin and couldn't get off. It was a trick of the devil to get them onto the drugs in the first place. I can just see the devil laughing at these students, and now they are stuck in an unbelievably horrible eternity, unless they came to Christ before their deaths.
When I was 7 years old, we moved into a house which was next door to a family which had a lot of children, and they were all openly bad. The children in this home were so bad that they had been kicked out of Catholic school (which is where most of the children in this town went to school). One of the girls was a year or two older than I, and she would tell me to do certain things, then she would sit back and laugh when I got into trouble. I have to admit, I was pretty naive at the time and it took a couple of her tricks before I figured it out.
One day, there must have been an orange tree nearby (not sure why there were orange trees in N.J.). This girl instructed me to take the oranges and throw them into the street, to which directions I followed. Stupid me. I had only thrown a couple of oranges when a cop car came around the bend and he saw me throwing the oranges. He stopped his car and hollered at me. Of course, my neighborhood friend was sitting back laughing because I got into trouble. Fortunately, for my sake, that was the last time I ever followed her instructions on anything.
I think sin is like that though. Jesus says, 'Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin...' (John 8:34). Paul also compares us to being set free from the slavery of sin and becoming slaves of Christ. (Romans 6:18). While the devil can't 'make' us sin, he certainly will tempt us to sin. Why? Because when we sin, we are ensnared in sin. It is like being addicted to heroin, but worse. It's worse because God is opposed to sin and sin brings His wrath upon us. The devil knows this and he wants us to be ensnared in sin, and under God's wrath.
It's like the devil lies to us, tempts us, watches us fall into his trap, then laughs at us. Not only that, but the devil is the 'accuser of the brethren'. He makes us feel guilty and stupid because of our sin. He tempts us, then mocks us when we sin. How is that for a rotten deal?
That's why God makes a big deal out of sin. Today, people do not fear God and they even openly sin in front of others. We have perverted people who say things like 'homosexuality is normal. God gives some people a special orientation that they must live out'. Another big lie is that we should get out of our marriages if we are not happy in them, or if we don't love our spouse anymore. If that is the case, then everyone who is married would end up divorced at some point. Maybe that's why the divorce rate is so high in our land. Do you realize though, that this is a lie from the devil to get you to fall. He wants your marriage to end, and he wants your spouse destroyed. He wants marriages destroyed, and he wants babies to be murdered. He sits back and laughs every time a woman has an abortion. That's because he loves death, and people are tricked into thinking that having an abortion is a good thing, when the Bible says it is evil. Not only is a baby killed, but the mother and doctors who kill the babies will be charged as guilty of murder before God on That Day.
Yes, the devil tempts us, then sits back and laughs at us when we fall for his traps, which are so subtle. Then God is also set against us because of our sin, which now we are enslaved to.
It is hard to be free from sin, once we choose to get into it. Remember too, the devil is not going to tempt you with something that is obviously wrong for you to do. He will provide plausible reasoning as to why you should do such and such. When that reasoning makes sense to you, you will justify sinning against God, and the devil will laugh at you because you fell into his trap again.
Be on guard against the Enemy of our souls, and his schemes. If you do not yet know the Lord Jesus Christ, if He is not your personal savior at this time, please go to http://thegospelconversation.blogspot.com or http://test4gp.wordpress.com
There is hope for those who want it. There is no hope for those who laugh at the Gospel and reject the only hope available. They will spend eternity with the devil who deceived them and who they believed in, by falling for his tricks.
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