The Lesser Glory

Romans 1:25-26 warns of a downward spiral of exchanging truth for a lie and serving the creature rather than the Creator that lends itself to degrading passions and gross sins.

The Devil will make every attempt to deceive us about the full effects of sin and its long lasting consequences that can result. The Bible says, "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death" (James 1:5 KJV).

I know of a man who destroyed his liver with alcohol that he bled out in the hospital and another man who was unfaithful to his spouse to learn he has HIV. What started out with thought of just a simple sip of golden ale or some hidden sexual exchange soon overtook their lives.

But sin does not have to be so extreme.

Sin can be as subtle as an attitude or refusing to surrender that hidden longing in the heart for something we know He prohibits.

Achan failed to obey God after Jericho was conquered and took a wedge of gold and a Babylonian garment. He hide it in his tent. But it was something else buried deep in his heart that refused to listen to God and made himself an exemption to the rule. He was drawn to the lesser glory of shimmering gold. In the end, Achan and his family was destroyed.

Beloved, all around us in this culture there are things that will call our attention but do not bow to that deceptive voice. Daniel's friends did not obey the king's command to bow to the golden image he set up. So they were thrown into a fiery furnace but God walked among the flames with them.

Lust is the lesser glory that has marred the true glorious image of God reflected in His creation of men and women. When we stoop and bow to what is nothing short of fool's gold we become corrupt and degraded. Shame almost always follows when we have given our attention (worship) to the world's goods.

But there is grace, beloved, glorious grace that He lavishes on those who call out to Him for help no matter the condition of the heart. Grace interrupts sin's destructive course and grace restores the glory of God in the heart. The only higher glory that should consume the heart.

Grace. Rich and glorious. Grace.