Joni and Friends 14 December 2021 Daily Devotional | Tuesday Message
Topic: Sin’s Deceitfulness
Scripture: “See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” – Hebrews 3:12-13
Joni and Friends 14 December 2021 Daily Devotional Message
Some time ago I pulled into my driveway after stopping at the local gas station for a fill-up. When I got out of my van, I noticed that my gas cap was missing. The attendant had forgotten to put it back on. Oh bother! I fumed. Exasperated, I drove back to the station to inquire about my cap.
“Is this yours?! The attendant asked as he held up a stainless steel gas cap. I told him “yes” but, when I watched him screw the cap on my van, I took a closer look. It wasn’t mine.
I felt guilty but not guilty enough to keep me from driving around for a few days with the hot gas cap. Hummph! They were the ones who lost it in the first place… why shouldn’t I take one of theirs? I regarded my straight-faced lie to the attendant as less sinful than it actually was in the sight of God.
A few nights later I stumbled across Hebrews 3:12-13 in my devotions. The next morning found me at an auto-supply store to purchase a new cap to give to the gas-station attendant. He refused to take it, saying that it wasn’t important. I wish that he had realized that the whole experience was more for my sake than his. Until recently, I had a sun-faded, never-opened boxed gas cap on my dash to remind me just how deceitful sin really is.
Lord, forgive me when I emasculate my sin and make great-sounding excuses for it. I am sorry that I try to rationalize my wrongdoing. Let me never become hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
This daily devotional is taken from Diamonds in the Dust – By Joni Eareckson Tada
