SCRIPTURE READING: JOHN 5: 1-14

FOCUS: “Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.” (John 5: 14)

MEMORY VERSE: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” (Galatians 5: 1)

When Jesus found the man whom He had healed at the pool of Bethesda in the temple, He declared to him that he was made whole. Notice that Jesus also warned the man to “sin no more”, lest a worse thing come to him. Jesus seemed to suggest that sin was going to open the door for something worse to happen to that man. Jesus clearly inferred that sin was going to energize the return of worse negativities in the life of that man.

Friend, did you know that you could open the doors of your life to affliction by reason of sin and unrighteousness? Did you know that you could literally invite affliction into your life by sin? Did you know that you could very easily cause the doors of your life to be opened to the serpent through your perpetual involvement in unrighteous acts? Did you know that you could re-invite past afflictions with present sins?

Jesus proclaimed wholeness on that man, but warned that sin was going to open new doors of worse things to happen to him. Sin was going to give negativity another chance in the life of that man. Did you know that a deliberate choice to sin is an offer of another chance for the enemy to conquer your territory? Did you know that you just might be re-enacting the negativities you already conquered by lending your body to sin?

If Jesus has made you whole, don’t destroy that wholeness through sin and unrighteousness. If Christ has set you free, do not seek to be entangled again by the yoke of bondage. If God has turned your story around, do not seek to reintegrate into the life of sin that kept your walk with God in limbo. Don’t destroy what God has done by creating an environment of sin around you. Don’t empower the enemy through your wrongdoing.

The finished work of Christ is no excuse to begin a re-enactment of what Christ saved you from. It is for freedom that Christ set you free. Stay free. Don’t go back to the yoke of sin and unrighteousness.

FURTHER READING: ECCLESIASTES 10, GALATIANS 5

DECLARATION: I will not re-enact negativity through a life of sin, in Jesus’ name!