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9/27/2018

John 8:44, 10:10, Galatians 5:19-21, Revelation 21:8.

The thief

A thief has come to rob me in my own house. He has surveyed my house from without looking for any weak points through which he can break into it. He has done his job thoroughly for he has no intention of leaving until he gets what he came for. He makes his plans very carefully aware that he cannot afford to make a mistake. This is a once in a lifetime chance and he is taking his life into his own hands for this is the strongman’s house and it is well defended, it has a high brick fence and is surrounded by cameras. He has an alarm system and last but not least he has guard dogs in addition to the watchman at the gate and several guards on the flat roof patrolling back and forth. Ah yes the strongman is well guarded for in his house he possess a treasure more precious than gold or silver, a priceless treasure. The thief has been casing the property for months and he has finally identified its weakness. It is not with the structure, not with the fence or the house itself, the guard at the gate and the ones patrolling atop the house are not perfect and sometimes they get tired of their routines and are not as watchful as they should be but this is unreliable for it happens inconsistently and cannot be guaranteed to occur on the night of the great break in. Everything is as it should be, everyone in their own place except for one thing, the homeowner’s children. Some are cautious, alert never wavering from their safety routines, but there is another breed of children who are less cautious, they are careless, irresponsible and willing to gamble with their lives. Though they have been made aware of the dangers lurking beyond the property walls these rebellious children choose to overlook the warnings. On one such occasion they sneak out of the property under the shadow of darkness without any guards to accompany them. They seem to be oblivious to the dangers that are past the property walls, the wolves, the wild beasts and the thief. They are much more concerned with indulging in every pleasure available to them in the dark caverns of the nearby town, a place where sin runs rampant. They giggle and joke like children as they make their way into town. Wild eyes follow them keeping their distance only too willing to indulge these rebellious children in a feeling of security in the middle of darkness. The rebellious ones keep moving lulled into a sense of false security because they did not meet any danger along the way. They failed to notice the hidden shadows in the night, unaware of the evil eyes that are studying them intently. Into the caverns of sin they go and there they spend a wild night of riotous living, talking to strangers that they just met. Their conscience no longer bothers them for the long dark claws of pleasure are dug deep into their souls. All night long the rebellious children party making a nuisance of themselves. They meet and make pacts with strangers they do not know. All night they drink wine in which there is much dissipation. Come morning they are delirious with pleasure and all forms of sin, they do not even know the way back home. Many are so taken in by the pleasures of life that they choose to remain permanently in town and a few, very few find their way back to the safety of their home. The thief has won a partial victory for though he could not steal the souls of all the rebellious children he at least has a consolation prize in the ones who remained rebellious while the repentant ones went home.

Jesus, Amen.

 

2019-05-01T03:48:36+00:00