Fleeing Sin

I have started Pilgrim's Progress and want to write about certain things I learn through this reading experience. I have read it before but it was a long time ago. I realized that this could be very helpful for me and others who are trying to live this life in reality.

At the beginning of the book, we find a man named Christian, who lives in the City of Destruction. Christian is weighed down by a heavy burden and is distressed by what he has read in his big book. The book tells him that the City of Destruction, where Christian lives, will be burn with fire from heaven. He was burdened but did not know what to do, so he took a walk in the fields with his book. There he met a man named Evangelist.

Evangelist asked him what was wrong and the man told him of his fears. When asked why he was still in the city, Christian respond that it was because he knew not where to go. Evangelist points him to a gate, but Christian could not see it. So Evangelist says go toward the light and there you will find the gate. At the gate you will be told what to do.

"So I saw in my dream that the man began to run. Now, he had not fun far from his own door when his wife and children saw him and began to cry for him to return; but the man put his fingers in his ears and ran on, crying, 'Life! Life! Eternal life!So he did not look behind him, but fled toward the middle of the plain."

This part is so powerful. The man hated his sin so much that he fled at that very moment from the city. Even when his wife and kids came to stop him, he never looked back. He continued to run with the same intensity for life. He didn't go back and prepare for his journey. As soon as Evangelist told him what to do, he did it. He trusted God and hated his sin enough to get out of the city before anymore harm could befall him. Nothing in that city was important enough to keep him there for another second; not his friends, not his wife, not his kids.

I am reminded of Joseph when faced with the temptation to sleep with Potiphar's wife. The Bible said he fled. He turned and ran out of the house as fast as possible. He didn't linger. He was so convinced that God had better than sin could offer that he didn't even consider going against God.

This makes me wonder what I do when faced with temptation and when I see sin in my life. Do i turn and run? Or do I linger and play with it a bit? Am I constantly on guard so that when I am suddenly faced with temptation I can flee without a second thought like Joseph did? When I see my sin and realize what I need to do to be right with God, do I run after it like Christian?

Sadly most time the answer is no. But thanks be to God for Christ who died for our every sin, so that we can be saved and have a relationship with God. Thank God for the Holy Spirit who will help guide us through life, so that we may be able to flee. This relationship between us and every part of the trinity is only possible through Christ Jesus. He was the man that lived the same life we did. He was tempted in every way we were, and he succeeded in every one of those temptations. Then he died to save us. His perfect life is the reason that we can be with God. It is also the only way we can say no to sin.

Thank you, Lord, for sending your only Son to die for us. Thank you for making this prayer possible through that work on the cross. Lord, we know that we fall short every day, but we also know that you look at us and see Christ's righteousness and not our own, because we have none. I thank you for that substitution. I pray that you would guide us through your Holy Spirit. Help us to flee sin, and be more like you. We can only do this through the help of your Spirit. Thank you for all the blessings you give us, including victory over sin. Help us never to take credit for that, but to exalt and praise you. Amen.