I remember a disappointing experience I had in rifle training during my time in military boot camp. After emptying a magazine of rounds, my instructor and I analyzed the paper target, noticing a nice, tight cluster of holes. Unfortunately, the cluster was focused up and to the left of center, which meant that I wouldn’t be receiving the coveted marksmanship ribbon. I was pretty bummed out, but I remember saying to myself, “Well, Ed, at least you were consistent.” It turned out that my fellow trainees had suffered the same fate. During our commiserating afterwards, we concluded that the rifle sights must have been cockeyed, a theory supported by the general condition of the weapons. In lay terms, this meant that even if a person had lined up their sights properly to the center of the bullseye, because the sights weren’t on the same vector as the barrel of the rifle, the bullets would always hit somewhere other than the intended location.

If we take our best shot with a crooked aiming system, we’ll never hit our intended target, no matter how focused or intentional we may be when we pull the trigger.

This reminds me of a well-intentioned Christian whose guidance system is still polluted by worldly thinking (aka sin). There are lots of Christians who truly mean well but aren’t aware of how misguided their thoughts and actions are. Why? Because they are deceived by sin, itself.

Sin is extremely difficult to overcome because it not only perverts your line of sight, but it also convinces you that you’ve been hitting the center of the bullseye! In fact, you are so convinced of your righteousness that you begin to treasure the very fruit of your sin.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
- Matthew 6:21-23

Sin is truly insidious. It’s intoxicating at times, seductive, even. It may be likened to the “forbidden woman” the Bible refers to.

For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
- Proverbs 5:3-4

Like the fool who defends his mistress, sinners defend their sin! In the end they are defending the very source of death, itself (James 1:15). The entire economy is treacherous.

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!
- Isaiah 5:20-21

I taught a 74-part series (12/6/18 through 6/23/19) titled, The Deceitfulness of Sin which , by some accounts, is one of the most impactful that the Holy Spirit’s ever had me teach. I’m quite confident that it’s also among the most hated I’ve ever preached, at least as far as the kingdom of darkness is concerned.

Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! There is a lion in the streets!” As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed. The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth. The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly.

Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears. Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I am only joking!”

For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases. As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.

The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body. Like the glaze covering an earthen vessel are fervent lips with an evil heart. Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips and harbors deceit in his heart; when he speaks graciously, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart; though his hatred be covered with deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.

Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling. A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin.
- Proverbs 26:12-28

What’s the remedy for this type of insidiousness, you might ask? There’s only one place where any of us can ever turn to be delivered from the deceitfulness of sin – the Word of God.

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
…
The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.
- Psalm 119:103-105, 130

My friend, look beyond your neatly organized, religious “dos and don’ts”. Challenge the status quo. Examine yourself in the Light of Truth found in the Word of God. It’s your heart that God is after, remember, your motivation. He wants you to be sanctified, wholly, to His glory. “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17).

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
- Romans 12:1-2

How many shots will we take in this lifetime? God only knows. The point is that without proper sighting, you’ll continue to shoot at the wrong target and yet persist in thinking you’re spot on. Break the cycle. Seek the Truth about yourself, your lifestyle choices, and your perception of such things in Holy Scripture. Don’t be deceived by sin, lest, as my basic military training went so many years ago, you, too, fail to receive your marksmanship ribbon at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

Love in Christ,

Ed Collins