Don’t Flirt With Sin
When Judas got complacent in his faith, he began to flirt with sin.
I don't believe that Judas woke up that morning and made a snap judgement call to betray Jesus. I am sure he'd been thinking about it for some time. I think he'd been wondering, rolling the idea around in his mind. He'd been 'flirting' with the idea.
Even when he went to them, he seemed to be just sticking his toe into the water to see what might happen: "Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus." (Luke 22:4)
I wonder if he said to himself: "I'm not actually gonna do it, I'll just ask them and see what happens." The further he went - the further he slipped until the betrayal happened.
Understanding How Sin Grows
This is a typical pattern for sin. Although, not ALL sin is premeditated - there are those moments when we unintentionally break God's laws, with no planning. Maybe we get angry and snap without planning it. Maybe something slips out of our mouths without us even realising it. Maybe we hurt somebody and we're not even aware of it because it wasn't our intention.
We'll always be falling short of God's perfect standard through unintentional breaking of His law, and for this we need forgiveness every day.
But the majority of our sin comes through planning! James the brother of Jesus wrote some words about the nature of sin: "When tempted, no one should say, 'God is tempting me.' For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." (James 1:13-15)
Do you see the pattern there? We are enticed. Evil desires are conceived - then they give birth to sin, which grows up and then gives birth to death.
To put it another way, a temptation is like a child being conceived in your mind. Most of us begin to nurture the temptations like a child growing in the womb. If we don't get rid of it, it grows and grows until it is born in sin.
This is what Judas did. He let this thing grow and grow in his mind until he did it, and made the betrayal.
Question: What sins do you flirt with? You know you shouldn't, but you let the temptation grow until it gives birth to sin and you've betrayed the one who saved you? I think we all know which temptations we struggle with personally.
Taking Thoughts Captive
The answer, of course, is to not let the temptation grow, not to flirt with it. Because once you begin flirting with it, it becomes VERY hard to stop.
If Judas had recognised those temptations and gone straight to Jesus with them - what might have changed in his life? Paul says this about sin: "We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:5)
Friends, when that temptation comes: to be nasty, to lust, to doubt, to fear, to partake of something you shouldn't: Take that thought captive immediately! Go straight to God with it and say "I am NOT going there Lord!" Turn to a Christian friend and tell them about the temptation - get up and get away from the source of temptation. But whatever you do, don't make a habit of nurturing the temptation.
You might just end up like Judas - throwing it all away, because you didn't kill the temptation when it first came.
Lent begins with Ash Wednesday! Let me remind you what the ashes you will receive mean. First, they represent repentance.