Revival Rising: Loving God and the Lost With All That You Are Sample

Renewing Your Mind

During a guided fishing trip in the Alaskan Gulf, I caught a halibut weighing approximately 150 pounds on threadlike line with a tiny hook. It should not have worked. But it did work. This huge fish was reeled up to within death’s reach because it was never truly aware that it was caught. 

Sin is like this. Our enemy does not want us to be aware of how easy it is to be caught by his threadlike line and tiny hooks. Often, we try to justify our “little sin” by comparing it to the world’s bigger sin. The truth is, it is still sin, and no matter how small, it still separates us from God. What appears as tiny and harmless still has the power to kill. In God’s eyes, there is no such thing as a “small sin,” and there should not be in our eyes either.

The same as luring in a giant fish on a thin line, our enemy is patient. It is his whisper that fuels the selfish justification that our sin is “no big deal,” that it does not control us, that it does not hurt anyone. And when we justify it all by saying something idiotic like, “Well, at least it’s not as bad as what they are doing,” we are being reeled inch by inch away from our God and toward the destruction of our soul.

Nowhere in God’s Word are we prompted to move as close to the world as we can and compare our actions to others to justify our sin. We are called to move away from sin, literally to run away from anything that separates us from God.

Friend, we cannot make secret alliances with sin. Any sin. Instead, we must refute the ridiculous justification that since our depravity takes place in private, somehow this makes it okay. The halibut took the bait in private, and it was led to what should have been its last day. 

When our desire to become like Him is greater than our desire for all other things, this is where purity is renewed. And where purity is thriving, so is the presence of God Himself. And our pursuit of purity is so precious to our Father’s heart that it draws His face, His love and His presence.

And this is where revival rises.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I’ve allowed “tiny sin” to enter into the heart You gave Your life to redeem. Right now I release the bait—I release my sin—and I choose You. Thank You for Your patience. Thank You for Your love. Thank You for Your kindness in providing a way to purity in Your presence. Amen.