What we behold, we become

The progress of rivers to the ocean is not so rapid as that of man to error. (Voltaire)

People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy. Blessed are those who fear to do wrong, but the stubborn are headed for serious trouble. (Proverbs 28:13-14)

Voltaire also reminded us that "God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well." How well are we living today? Some will say their life is 'pretty good', others will remark that 'it could be better'. Either way, we still have room for improvement no matter how long we live. We can never 'outlive' doing right any more than we can outlive doing wrong! We need to be honest with ourselves when we don't live up to what God desires of us and confess that we need his help to 'do better'. Mankind has always made haste to get into trouble. What we need is God's help to make haste to move away from sin's pull! 

Concealing our sin gets us nowhere. Confessing it is the beginning of true change, but confession alone is not enough. We need to repent - do a '180' so we no longer are pursuing that sin. A man makes the greatest 'progress' toward righteousness when his eyes are on the one who can make him strong enough to resist the pull of sin. Repentance changes our focus - that '180' actually changes what we are focusing upon. Too many times, our focus remains on the thing that entices us away from God's right-living and then we wonder why we are so easily caught in the snare of sin. What we 'behold' we 'become'. 

Why are we slow to turn from our sin? It is probably because it 'promises' something we secretly desire, and we haven't asked or trusted God to change those desires. If we want to be free of sin, we need to ask for God's help. When he offers that help, we cannot pick and choose what we part of his help we will utilize - we must utilize ALL of it. He gives us the scriptures so we can identify our sin. He provides the Holy Spirit so we can be taught how to resist that sin. He affords us the opportunity of relationship with others who also walk with him so we can have the encouragement of others to live well. Use all of them and we might just see our way onto a new path and away from sin's pull. Just sayin!