36. Не касайся этого! Здесь яд

It happens that a person, wanting to warn another person not to get hurt, holds him back and tells him: “Don’t touch this! The poison is hidden here." We see many such cases in the world. So God’s word warns us against sin and says to each of us: “Beware of sin, man! The poison is hidden in sin. When you touch it, it will kill you: “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). The poison is in hatred, rancor and murder - beware of this! There is poison in fornication and all uncleanness - beware of this! Poison is in drunkenness, luxury and lust - beware of this! There is poison in enmity and quarrel - beware of this! There is poison in theft, embezzlement, violence, extortion and every unrighteous deed - beware of it! Poison in idleness and laziness - beware of this! The poison is in slander, condemnation, slander, swearing, foul language, stupid speeches, blasphemy and every useless and rotten word - beware of this, man! There is poison in pride, love of glory, vanity and hypocrisy - beware of this! There is poison in every deed, word, thought and undertaking that is contrary to God - beware of this! Beware of all sin, man! May he not kill you! Poison kills the body, sin kills the soul. If you are afraid of bodily death, you must be even more careful of the spiritual death that sin causes. The soul is more honest and dearer than the body, the more it must be protected. Beware or do not beware of bodily death - you cannot avoid it. Everyone needs this, and you too. And if you protect your soul from the deadly poison of sin, then you will live forever, even though you die, for by the grace of God you will rise not into death, but into eternal life. Beware, too, my soul, of all sin, as if it were a deadly poison—so that it does not kill you. “Come, children,” the Holy Spirit tells us, “listen to me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is a person who wants... to live and wants to see good days? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful words. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and strive for it. The eyes of the Lord are turned to the righteous, and His ears are to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to destroy the memory of them from the earth” (Ps. 33:12-17). Blessed is the man who listens to the admonitions and warnings of God's word, and is guarded against all sin! Damned is the one who does not heed this soul-saving voice of God! We see that when a person, through negligence, tastes poison or something else harmful and feels illness in the stomach, he does not hesitate, but immediately resorts to a doctor and seeks healing. Christian! Do not hesitate when, through negligence and the action of the devil, you taste the poison of sin. Do not delay, I say, but seek healing immediately. Run with faith to Christ, the Physician of souls and bodies, ask Him for healing of your soul. Declare to Him the plague with which the enemy has wounded you. Declare, although He knows it. Fall before Him and admit your illness with contrition of heart. Don't be ashamed and don't be afraid! He knows your illness before you admit it. But he demands your self-willing and voluntary confession, so that you accuse yourself before Him and do not hide your sin. Speak to Him and confess your iniquity: “I have sinned, Lord, have mercy on me!” Heal me, Lord, for I have sinned against You” (Ps. 40:5). The sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt and went to the promised land, were bitten by snakes in a certain desert. God, having mercy on them, commanded Moses to lift up a copper serpent on a high tree, so that the people who had been bitten would look at that serpent for the sake of their healing, and, looking at it, they would be healed (Num. 21:6-9). Christians! We are going to the promised land - the heavenly Fatherland promised to us, and passing through the desert of this world, we suffer a lot from the hellish serpent, the devil. As soon as, through our carelessness, this fierce serpent bites us, and we feel its harmful poison in our soul, we will immediately raise our eyes to Christ, the Son of God, sitting at the right hand of God the Father, who was once lifted up on the tree of the cross for our sins, crucified and died. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:14–15). O Jesus, the Power and Hope of our salvation, seated at the right hand of the Father in the glory of the Father! Have mercy on us, whom you redeemed with your honest Blood. You might be interested in: