Key Scripture: Proverbs 13:6

Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way: but wickedness overthroweth the sinner.

Relevance

Christians spend a great deal of time, energy, and prayer trying to defeat sin and its thoughts. Sometimes we feel as if we've captured and won the very hill of righteousness, while other days we think the opposite, as if all is lost and we're the only ones who can't get it right. That is a part of the seesaw effect of walking the Way of Holiness to spiritual maturity.  

Our key scripture tells a tale of two realities, both driven by habit. When our actions are consistent, whether good or bad, they become habits. They are no longer second nature; they are our nature, and we become the sum of our habits. 

Christians develop habits for righteousness' sake. This means they set and achieve goals for reading, memorising verses, prayer, and good works through love, putting aside things of lesser value. These goals become habits, which function like tabernacle guy ropes supporting the white walls of righteousness that encircle and protect the Holy region. In a sense, it's like doing daily checking and tightening all the ropes. 

When I was a safety consultant, one of my key tools for eliminating or minimising risk across sites was to develop risk check sheets designed to suit each area of a business. I would bring in the Operations Manager and one or two health and safety representatives, and simply walk through the areas, discussing each one, and then document the hazards. I would then ensure that the fully operational and individualised checklists were used daily, weekly, or monthly, depending on the risk reality. This is checking and tightening the guy ropes of the safety system. 

Fidelity to the system was paramount. Consistently performing small tasks keeps righteousness upright. As a result, the righteous (the doers) are also held upright by their diligence.

On the flip side, wickedness eventually overthrows the sinner. Why is that, do you think? Someone has come short of his efforts to overcome sin, and it's a terrible finish. The two outcomes are diametrically opposite. One is kept upright, upstanding, and valiant in the way by reason of his dedication to developing habits of silver and gold. The other is overthrown by his habits of continually giving in to wickedness. His godly desires are tragically but easily overthrown, giving way to the devil in almost every instance.  

This brings us to sin's pilot light. On every gas water heater or fire, there is a pilot light—a single, hardly noticeable flame that is kept alight on purpose so the hot water or lounge room fire can be ignited quickly when needed. Trouble arises when Christians experiment with sin by leaving a pilot light on that can quickly ignite their Achilles heels—their weaknesses.

This frightening phenomenon means that a barely perceptible flame of sin, whether of anger, pride, sexual, hatred or something just as diabolical, remains indiscernibly lit in the heart of the believer, reducing repentance to nothing more than a 99% apology without a full change of heart. 

The 'repentant' sinner knows deep down that he will most likely do it again, whatever 'it' is, whether it's being violent when provoked, drinking when rejected, envying when hearing of others' success, or lusting after a neighbour's wife every time he sees her. The type of sin is almost irrelevant to God, but the pilot light is highly applicable. 

Here is a thought: If our pilot lights aren't snuffed out upon repentance with the rest of the flame of desire, does that make our repentance a lie?

For each of us, it's worth looking into!

God understands that Christians face significant opposition. Galatians 5 spells out many of the conflicts engaging us: Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like.

We may believe these issues are far from our Christian life, but a close look could find a pilot light flickering in some of them. 

Aside from those things, married couples face issues that are explicitly attributed to their relationship. Colossians 3:18-19 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. How does a husband keep bitterness out of his spirit if his wife shows no submission or treats him like he is useless? On the other hand, how does a wife heartfully submit to a husband who shows her no respect in love or treats her more like a houseslave than his best friend?

The rest of the family doesn't escape, either. God created certain expected behaviours from children and parents. V20-21 Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged. These two scriptures illustrate the delicate balance of having disagreements while safe-keeping a Godly relationship. Family friction can happen easily and quickly. 

Whatever the problem, the pilot light of any of those issues mustn't remain alight. Even the slightest flame of temptation can ignite a hot fire of passionate destruction when the pressure is on. 

We all benefit when this intricate element of spiritual warfare is understood. If we're to have a pilot light flickering in our hearts, let's make it the one that kindles the passion for our first love— Jesus Christ, and put all others out by the water of the Word.

Praise God again and again. And let's also keep Charlie Kirk's family and ministry in our prayers. They all certainly need it at the moment. 

Prayer

Father, Your precious Son showed us how to live a life free from sin. We all long for that kind of existence, but are often unaware of why we do what we do or think what we think, even when we genuinely aim for the opposite. We recognise that the upsides of these struggles bring awareness of the clever tactics of the spiritual warfare. Please help us desire and pursue only what leads to Your love and affection. 

Photo by Myko Makhlai