MEMORISE: The wicked man
travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the
oppressor. Job 15:20
READ: GENESIS 3:8-19
3:8 And they heard the
voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam
and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees
of the garden.
3:9 And the LORD God
called umo Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
3:10 And he said, I
heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid
myself.
3:11 And he said, Who
told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I
commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
3:12 And the man said,
The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did
eat.
3:13 And the LORD God
said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The
serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
3:14 And the LORD God
said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all
cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and
dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
3:15 And I will put
enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
3:16 Umo the woman he
said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou
shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he
shall rule over thee.
3:17 And unto Adam he
said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of
the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed
is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy
life;
3:18 Thorns also and
thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the
fleld;
3:19 In the sweat of thy
face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return umo the ground; for out of it wast
thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
MESSAGE
Sin can bring
unimaginable consequences upon the sinner. Some years ago, I visited the
maximum security prison at Kirikiri, Lagos, where I met a man who had been
condemned to death. For 27 years, he had waited for the day the executioner
would come for his head. While we discussed, I trembled at the repercussion of
sin. He said to me, ''Even if I am released now, where do I start from, having
wasted 27 years of my life?'' Do you expect such a man to be joyful during all
that period of waiting? No way! He must have been sad for 27 years! Psalm 16:4
says,
''Their sorrows shall be
multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I
not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.''According to this
scripture, sin and sorrow go hand in hand. If you are living in sin, you cannot
be separated from sorrow. If you enjoy sinning, you will be compelled to enjoy
sorrow as well. If you are always sorrowful, examine your ways: it is possible
your life of sorrow is the product of a sinful life.
Similarly, sin is linked
with pain, struggle and tears. Job 15:20 says, "The wicked man
travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the
oppressor.'' This scripture simply
means that if you sin and continue in it, get ready to suffer for a long time,
possibly throughout life.
These repercussions of sin did not just start today;
they have been there from the beginning. In today's Bible reading, after Adam and
Eve sinned, the serpent was cursed above all other creatures and lost its legs.
For the woman, the process of conception and childbirth became an issue of life
and death, while the ground was cursed for man's sake. Since then, it has been
a struggle for man to enter into his harvest. Before you take out your harvest
from the fields, you have to sweat, suffer, weed out what you did not sow, and
so on. Are you going through a lot of struggle, pain and tears over your
efforts to move to the next level? First crosscheck your life to find out if
these are caused by sin. If there is sin, confess it to God, ask for
forgiveness and beat a fast retreat. Follow after the path of righteousness,
because righteousness will ensure sorrow stays far from your life.
PRAYER POINT:
Father, in any way I
have brought sorrow into my life because of sin, have mercy on me and deliver
me today.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Judges 19
Jeremiah 51:59-52:11
HYMN 11: I HAVE DECIDED
TO FOLLOW JESUS
1. I have decided to
follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow
Jesus;
I have decided to follow
Jesus;
No turning back, no
turning back.
2. Though none go with
me, I still will follow;
Though none go with me,
I still will follow;
Though none go with me,
I still will follow
No turning back, no
turning back.
3. My cross I’ll carry,
till I see Jesus;
My cross I’ll carry,
till I see Jesus;
My cross I’ll carry,
till I see Jesus;
No turning back, no
turning back.
4. The world behind me,
the cross before me;
The world behind me, the
cross before me;
The world behind me, the
cross before me;
Noturning back, no
turning back.
Happy weekend
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