Revelation 2:24 speaks of the "...depths of Satan..." - what is God talking about? We know that
Satan is a reference to a fallen angel that tempts mankind into sin, but the depths of Satan refers to
the deeper levels of sin. What I want to discuss here is making concessions.
The flip-side to the depths of Satan is keeping yourself pure before God. We read in Galatians 5:9 -
"A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." What is the Bible teaching us? It is saying that it is
not always the big things that can bite us and entice us into sin - also the small things in life can lead
us into the big things. Often, we begin with the small things, which lead up into the big things.
A perfect scenario of this is an office affair. We all know that we should keep our focus on our
spouse, not letting ourselves get involved in extramarital affairs. However, it happens time and time
again. It begins with a look, or a gesture. Subtle hints are exchanged, and instead of fleeing from
the temptation, both parties slowly begin to embrace the hints. Office flirting eventually follows, and
finally people go so far as to make the concession of having a fling. Sometimes this totally destroys
a marriage - sometimes not. Either way, it has a damaging effect on the relationship that takes a lot
of work to bring back to something workable.
Another example is lying - we all have heard the old Sir Walter Scott saying "Oh what a tangled web
we weave, when first we practice to deceive...". The idea is simple and well-known - when you make
a concession in life to tell a lie, often when you are caught in the lie, you either have to confess your
wrong, or continue in the downward spiral with another lie. This eventually destroys your credibility,
and sometimes even destroys your life. Many business moguls have been entrapped by this - type in
the word "Ponzi scheme" in Google and you find many big names that have lost so much in the name of greed.
Think back to when you were a child, and you were first given the opportunity to do something right or
wrong. I am not talking about before you were able to think for yourself. Think about the first moment
of wrong that you did on purpose. I can remember when I was 4 years old in preschool - I stole a
puzzle from the Bookfair on purpose. I knew it was wrong, but I did it anyway. I made a concession
to take that which was not my own. Fortunately for me, I never got involved in a steady stream of
theft, as many others I grew up with. But I know many people who, once they stole for the first time,
became hooked on the concept, working their way up to more and more crime. For some of my
friends, it involved breaking into houses. For others, it was stealing jewelry from a store.
My point here is that once you begin to make a bad choice, it becomes easier to make worse choices later. You begin to become insensitive to things that you would have never done in the first place. Another
perfect example of this is with drugs - many start with easier drugs such as a beer or a cigarette,
then proceed to something like marijuana, later trying drugs such as cocaine, acid, or abusing
prescription medication.
I am not going to quote a lot of scripture here - I think the initial scripture gives us a lot to think about. The more wrong you do in life, the easier it is to add a bit more on the pile. It is never too late to make good
02-24-12 - The Depths of Sin
"CHOICES" by George Jones