Splat! When you drop a pumpkin off the top of a building, the outcome is predictable and not at all surprising. In fact, the very act of dropping a pumpkin off of a building is predicated on the expected result. There is no doubt in our mind about the affect that gravity will have on the pumpkin. There are not a lot of varying opinions on gravity and what it does.

It is strange, then, to observe all the different opinions about God. Rather than finding out what the truth is and then dealing with the consequences of that truth, we instead like to formulate our own opinions about God, what he expects from us, what the consequences of ”God” are on our lives. Some choose not to think much about God at all; to the point of not even searching for the truth about God.

What causes this? If there was a report of a hurricane that was about to hit a major metropolitan area, the people in that area would likely tune into the news to find out everything they could about the hurricane and its potential impact on their lives. Surely, most people in our society have at least heard of the potential impact to our lives, and most especially our after-lives, as it relates to God. Yet, its surprising, in light of this, to see that so many have chosen to create their own truth about God rather than find out what the truth actually is.

The questions people have about God also tend to be quite interesting. Few of the questions have to do with where God came from, what he wants, what is salvation all about. Instead, many of the questions and comments have to do with what God wants us to do or not do. ”Why does God care if I get intoxicated?” ”If two people care about each other, why does it matter if they are the same gender?” ”I’ll be nice to other people when they’re nice to me!”

Still other questions seem to be about God’s justice. ”If God cares about us, why does he let bad things happen?” ”I’m supposed to believe in a God who would send people to hell?” We seem comfortable putting ourselves in a position to judge God; to determine if he meets with our approval.

So, what is behind all this? Why are our questions more about discrediting and disregarding God than finding out the truth about him? It comes down to a simple issue: desire.

We are rebellious by nature. The Bible says that we rebel against God:

Daniel 9:5:

we have sinned, and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from your precepts and from your ordinances;

Our beliefs about God tend to relate directly to the sins we commit; particularly those favorite sins that we do not wish to give up. Whether one is an unbeliever, and does not concede any authority to God, or whether one calls themselves a Christian yet does not feel obligated to follow God’s commands; people’s beliefs about God seem to be focused on allowing them to continue in their sin yet suffer no consequences.

What does The Bible say about our actions and how they relate to what we profess about God? What does it say for self-described Christians in particular?

1 John 1:6:

If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;

1 John 2:3-4:

By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, ”I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;

Titus 1:16:

They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient, and worthless for any good deed.

Matthew 15:8:

This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me.

John 14:15:

If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

What about unbelievers? Why is there such a resistance to even attempt to find out the truth about God? It is likely a fear that God will indeed reveal himself to them. Then they are faced with an uncomfortable choice: either subject themselves to God or chose to willfully sin against God and suffer the consequences in the next life. Some people would rather live in ignorance than face a truth that they are uncomfortable with. The sinful desires of our hearts can be used by the Devil to blind us to the truth about God.

2 Corinthians 4:3-4:

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

The result of these sinful desires is to undermine the truth of God’s word. Rather than reading The Bible and doing what it says, we mix ideas from The Bible (in order to lend a bit of credibility to our own philosophy), the contemporary society in which we live (political correctness), and our own personal desires for certain sins.

The product is our very own god. This is a god that may sound legitimate because we reference The Bible or Jesus but is more acceptable to the world around us and allows us to continue in our unrepentant sin with the false comfort that we are forgiven for sins that we are not truly sorry for and don’t want to turn away from. We want to escape the consequences for our sins but we don’t want the sins taken away from us. Instead, we create a god that provides us with hedonism in this life and a lack of consequences for sin in our next life. We have broken the very first of God’s commandments; we have put another god before the true God.

The Bible warns us against this:

Colossians 2:8:

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

2 Timothy 4:3-4:

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.

For those who call themselves Christians, this is particularly puzzling. Do we not believe what The Bible says about God? Do we really think that we know, better than God, what is best for us? Do we believe that the counterfeit joy of sin is really better than the true joy that comes from God?

If we say we believe in God; if we say we trust him; why do we not believe that his commandments are better for us than the desires of our sinful flesh?

As long as we cling to our sinful desires, we will never live by the Spirit of God. We will always be a prisoner to sin. Sadly, the way we attempt to justify our sinful behavior is to undermine God and his word. We call into question the validity of The Bible, just as unbelievers do. Why try to twist God’s word to fit our lifestyle, just as unbelievers do. In doing so, we undermine our own faith because, before too long, we’re no longer sure which parts of The Bible are true and which aren’t; because we refuse to accept all of God’s word as true, just so we can continue in our sin.

The big question is, ”who are we fooling?” Do we think that, just because we twist God’s word, that he is somehow subject to our philosophy? Do we think that on Judgement Day, God will exchange his rules for ours? The only benefit to this self-delusion is to comfort ourselves as we walk the path of eternal destruction. Indeed, many are called but few are chosen. We happily whistle while we build the wall of sin that separates us from God.

The lie that the Devil uses against us is the belief that sin is better than what God offers us. The Devil uses our sinful nature, and our own willingness, to deceive us into believing that we could not possible live without our sinful desires; that our lives would be dark and dismal without this false-joy of sin.

The Bible speaks, in Romans 8:5-8, of those who live according to the flesh and the prison that they find themselves in:

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

The Bible says that if we live by the flesh we are not even able to subject ourselves to God’s law. So then, how do we escape from this prison? How do we go from living by the flesh to living by the Spirit of God?

Only God can help us. Because of our sinful nature, our attempts to free ourselves from this prison only end in futility. This is because an attempt made without God is a testament to our pride, and it is our pride that keep us from wanting to serve God, rather than ourselves, in the first place.

If we want God to help us; if we ask God to change our hearts so that we do not desire to sin against him anymore; he will help us. If we do the things he commands us and ask him for his help to keep us from sinning; we will be rescued from a life of willful sin.

Will we be perfect? No. However, there is a difference between falling into sin and diving into sin. It is very easy to tell the difference between the two. When we sin, do we make excuses for our sins? Do we compare our sins to others and conclude that our sins are ok because they are not as bad as others? Do we twist God’s word in order to defend our sins? Do we put ourselves in tempting and sinful situations? If so, then we are diving into sin. We are willfully sinning, defending our sins, and seeking our sins. If, however, we confess our sins, if we are contrite, if we ask God for forgiveness, and for help to turn us away from our sins; then, when we fall, God will lift us up.

If we are tempted to use bad language or use God’s name in vain; then we should stop watching television shows or movies that use language like this. We should stay away from conversations at work or with friends where lude behavior is discussed or where others are being criticized. We should stay away from shopping areas if we are prone to covetousness and materialism.

Romans 12:2:

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:9:

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.

1 John 2:15-17:

Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever.

If we find ourselves in theses situations, we should immediately ask God to help us find the exit. God promises to always provide an escape from temptation; but we have to want him to help us flee those situations.

1 Corinthians 10:13:

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.

It may be as simple as saying, ”no” to a sinful offer, or walking away from a sinful situation, or simply thinking of something else rather than dwelling on sinful thoughts. This is why it is important to fill our heads with the things of God, so that we are armed when the things of this world attack us.

We must pray every day and ask God to help us. We must confess our sins to him daily and ask for forgiveness as well as for help to turn away from the sins that separate us from him. We must read his word everyday in order to find out what God has done for us and expects from us. This will counter the vain philosophies of the world that try to mislead us. We cannot be fooled by the world if we diligently study God’s word.

God gives us 24 hours in a day. We can spend at least 30 minutes reading his word and praying to him.

We should also ask God to remind us to pray to him whenever we are in tempting situations. We must not rely on our own strength to battle the Devil and our own sinful flesh. God will send us his Spirit to help us and protect us.

This is when the lie of the Devil is exposed. God will change the desires of our heart. The things, that we thought we could never live without, will no longer have a grip on us. Imagine how amazing it will be to no longer desire the things that you thought you could never live without!

Will the temptations still be there? Yes, the world is sinful and the Devil will not give us up without a fight. However, because we desire to please God more than please ourselves; the desire to willfully do these things will not be there to pull us from temptation into sin.

When we do sin, we will feel differently. Rather than being comfortable with our sin; our sin will grate against us. It will be like nails on a chalkboard or sandpaper on our teeth. It will simply feel wrong and bad and contradict the new desires of our heart. Confession, contrition, repentance will no longer be things that are uncomfortable to us. Far from it. We will seek out these things and beg for God’s forgiveness. We will no longer be comfortable with sin.

Can you imagine seeing God’s law, not as a burden to bear or a handicap to live with, but rather as a joy and something to delight in? When our heart desires to please God, we seek out knowledge of God’s law. We ask God to show us all our sin so that we can ask him to help us turn away from anything that displeases him. Our closeness to God increases to an unimaginable level because the willful sin that stood between us and God is gone, thanks to the power of his Spirit and faith in the forgiveness we have through Jesus.

1 John 5:3-4:

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith.

Psalms 1:1-2:

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.

This is a miraculous transformation, possible only through God’s strength and love. We will look back on our lives of willful sin and wonder how we could have wasted so many years. We will wonder why we settled for sin, that never satisfies, when the joy and peace and love of God was available for us all along. Rather than being dragged down by the consequences of sin and the wicked things of this world, we can have the peace that comes from knowing that God will help us through everything that we face. The trials in our lives may increase; we will find ourselves persecuted for Jesus’ sake; but we will have the comfort that comes from knowing that God is there for us, to guide us through and be our strength.

We will also have the security of knowing that our salvation in the next life is assured. We will no longer need to undermine our faith in order to accommodate our sin. God’s Spirit will fill us with the confidence that we are his forever and that no one will pluck us out of his hands.

Others will wonder why we have this peace and this joy in the face of life’s trials. We can tell them, ”Because God has given me a new heart with new desires and I am no longer a slave to sin but a servant of righteousness.”

2 Corinthians 5:17:

Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

Trust that God can change your desires. Trust that only God can give you a righteous heart; one that no longer conforms to your sinful nature. Trust that God can transform you into one of his saved children. Trust that God’s law is there for your good and not as a burden. The law of God is only a burden to those intent on breaking it. To those who live by the Spirit, it is a delight.

Romans 13:12:

The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.