Decorating Your Cell

    There are many times of the year where you enjoy decorating. During Christmas, during the Fourth of July, for spring, for fall, sometimes for Halloween, for almost any party, etc. People will decorate their homes, offices, cars, and much more to get the ambience just right for the celebration. It kind of puts you in a festive mood. It builds anticipation.

   Well, while all those decorations and the places you put them are fun, I’m willing to bet you probably have never thought of decorating one place: a jail cell. Woah! We just went from fun and fancy to dark and dreary. Why would I even bring up decorating a place like that? Isn’t that where criminals go?

   Now I don’t know if criminals do decorate their cells for real or not. But I’m talking about how some of us have a spiritual jail cell. Some of us choose to continue to live in sin. We all face temptations. Some of us choose to give in to those temptations. We choose to enter the cell of sin. I don’t know what temptations you have faced. I don’t know if you gave into them or not. What I do know is if we begin decorating our sin cell, we are in bad shape.

   See, usually, if someone is decorating a place, they are claiming ownership of it. They are planning on staying there for some time. Thus, they want it to be nice, homey, and a place they and others will feel comfortable in. Why in the world would we want to feel comfortable in sin? I realize that it may feel good for a bit but that source of dopamine, whatever it is, will wear off. And you will be back looking for your next fix sooner rather than later.

   People who are decorating their cells have admitted defeat. But you don’t have to. You can give up that sin. You can leave and decorate the home God has given you. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” Even if you have given into temptation. Even if you feel like there’s no hope, there is! God provided us with a way of escape. He sent his Son to die for us, to be the perfect sacrifice, so we could have a way of escape. It’s our choice whether we stay in the cell or not.

   So, are you in a cell decorating away right now? How can you escape the cell if you are in one? How can you refuse to enter the cell when it is presented to you?

https://youtu.be/TcP_GBnoeS4