Don't Get Burned

"Can a man scoop a flame into his lap and not have his clothes catch on fire? Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet?" Proverbs 6:27-28

These verses are talking about sexual immorality and specifically, adultery.  I think that these verses can be applied to other areas of our lives as well. We are married to God.  When we give away our love to other things such as money, our sport, or another relationship, we are cheating on God.  The flame and the hot coals in this passage refers to sin and your clothes catching on fire, while your feet blistering refers to the consequences of that sin.

It is impossible to walk on hot coals and not blister your feet.  In the same way, we can not carry on with sin in our lives and not expect that there will be consequences.  God has freely given us grace but that is not an invitation to continue in our sin.  If we sin, we will get burned.  "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is constructive. (1 Corinthians 10:23)  Think of it this way, when we were kids our parents told us not to touch the hot stove.  Even though we were told not to, we still wanted to test our limits and see what was permissible.  We went against our parents instructions, touched the stove, and got burned.  Once we did this, however, we learned our lesson and never did it again.  We realized that we could do it, but it wasn't beneficial to us.  Our heavenly Father instructs us through His Word not to touch the stove (sin) so that we won't get burned.  Through our human nature though, we feel the need to test our limits before we can fully trust and obey Him.  So we sin, and we get burned.  

 What has burned you?  Don't do it again. Grace is free but it is not a ticket to keep sinning.  Trust your heavenly Father's instruction.  You can't place fire on your clothes and not expect to get burned.  When you stop walking on hot coals, you will find that it becomes easier to keep Moving Forward...

"What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?  By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" Romans 6:1-2