Avoid the Danger
Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. – 1 Peter 2:11-12 NKJV.
Growing up on a farm I learned early not to hassle the bull. We actually had a very tame bull that must have been almost a pet at one time. One of my favorite things to do when I was a little boy was to stomp my foot while looking the bull in the eye when I was just a few feet from him. That bull, who weighed a couple of thousand pounds, would jump backwards about a foot. I suspect I would have been in trouble if my Dad or Mother had ever caught me doing that. But I knew that most bulls were not tame. My Mother told me stories about my grandfather being trapped in cattle feeder and having to use a pitchfork to keep an angry bull from getting to him.
Apparently, some people in Colorado have not learned that a moose can be just as dangerous, if not more so than an angry bull. The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Department was given a photo of a man next to an angry moose. A driver saw this man chasing the moose across the highway and onto the median. In the photo the ears of the moose were “pinned back and had raised hackles (raised hair on back of the animal).” Summit County’s District Wildlife Manager Elissa Slezak said, “It is likely this person does not realize how much danger he put himself in, or maybe he does not care. We hope a conversation with this individual can help him understand the danger involved.”
Also, in Colorado, if the man is found he can be charged with harassment of wildlife. (Times-Call 05.06.18; 4CBS Denver 05.06.18)
1 Peter 2:11 says, “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.” Another translation puts sojourners and pilgrims as aliens and strangers. Fleshly lusts is translated in some modern translations as sinful desires. So, this would then read: “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, or aliens and strangers abstain from fleshly lusts or sinful desires which war against the soul.”
Sinful desires do what? They war against the soul. Sin is a threat to your spiritual wellbeing. Sin is a danger that like an angry moose or an angry bull we would do well to avoid. Nothing good will come from playing around with sin or even entertaining sinful thoughts in our minds.
How do we fight back against these Sinful desires that at war with us? As we are told in Ephesians 6:17, “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Take up the sword of the Spirit and fight back! Defeat angry thoughts with verses like Proverbs 15:18, “A wrathful man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger allays contention.” Memorize a few of these verses and run them through your mind whenever you have angry thoughts. Having a problem with lustful thoughts? Memorize Romans 6:12-13, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” Repeat the verse in your mind until the sinful thoughts are gone. Whatever the sin problem there are verses of Scripture to use to confront it.
The very best thing to do when confronted with the danger of sinful desires is to find the way of escape. “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it (1 Corinthians 10:13.).”
Remember if you know Jesus as your Savior you are just a sojourner and a pilgrim on your way to your Heavenly home. Make your journey a good one, and avoid the danger of the sinful distractions, because you are only here in this world for a very brief visit.