The Paper-Thin Cut

A story is told of a surgeon who cut his finger while operating on a patient. He called a friend in the middle of the night, sobbing and afraid he had been infected, and asked for prayer. After praying with him, the friend asked how deep the cut was. "Paper-thin," he answered. If a paper-thin cut from an infected source can threaten the body, how much damage can a paper-thin cut from impurity do to the soul? Paul writes, "Abstain from evil (shrink from it and keep aloof from it) in whatever form or whatever kind it may be" (1 Thessalonians 5:22). Some sins come in very subtle forms, and an unsuspecting believer may not think them wrong at all.

Jesus raised the bar when He said that looking at someone with lust is already adultery in the heart (Matthew 5:27-28). So do not give the devil a foothold (Ephesians 4:27), and do not think you are too strong to fall (1 Corinthians 10:12). David, a man after God's own heart, fell when he saw Bathsheba bathing (2 Samuel 11:2-4). If a movie stirs unholy thoughts, stop watching it. If a relationship pressures you toward sin, end it. If parties leave you unfocused, stop attending them. Hang around the barber's long enough and you will get a haircut. Avoid every subtle form of evil. And if you have already fallen, grace is not closed to you. God's grace trains us to say no to ungodliness (Titus 2:11-12), and if we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us (1 John 1:9).