Leading Others into Sin
The Old Testament prophets call out sin in all of its aspects, and they do it effectively. Sometimes, as I am reading through the Old Testament I wish that the message was more uplifting. However, when I think about it, sin is our main problem. It is why Jesus had to come and die for our sins. It is what separates us from God.. It is why we need to be saved from our sins. Therefore, we always need to take sin very seriously. I am afraid that many people are tempted by Satan, the world, and the flesh, so that they decide to go down the broad road of sin to destruction.
The prophet Micah prophesied to both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. He saw Israel fall into many sins, and then he watched as Judah eventually followed them in to the same types of sins. (Micah 1:13) "Harness your horses and flee, you people of Lachish. You were the first city in Judah to follow Israel in her rebellion, and you led Jerusalem into sin." God was not only angry with the people of Lachish for their sins, but also because they led Jerusalem into sin. We need to make sure we don't lead others to sin today.
It is easy for anyone to fall into sin. Of course, the people who don't know Christ are very susceptible to sin, as I already noted. We, as Christians, are also able to be tempted and to fall into sin, when we don't trust the Lord each day and allow the Holy Spirit to empower us and guide us. When we decide to sin, we almost always know that what we have decided is wrong, because the Spirit convicts us. Sometimes, we keep sinning anyway.
One thing that we can think will help us not to feel as guilty for our sins is if other people we know are committing the same sins. We think since everyone is doing it, it is not so bad. If we don't know others who are involved in those sins, we can actually decide to lead others into sin. God hates to see that happen, and He will deal harshly with us if we do that. This is especially true for believers, since we know better, and we are to lead people to the Lord not away from Him. Let's be very diligent not to follow others into sin and not to lead others into sin.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Micah 2-4.