file: pub/resources/text/Our.Daily.Bread: db940812.txt
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OUR DAILY BREAD                          Friday, August 12, 1994
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READ: 1 Kings 20:26-43 


                        "HALFWAY MEASURES"

        Put to death your members which are on the earth:
        fornication, uncleanliness, passion, evil desire,
                         and covetousness.

                              Col. 3:5  


It would have been unthinkable for Allied leaders to let Adolf Hitler 
surrender and then reinstate him as dictator of his country. But that's 
exactly what King Ahab did to Ben Hadad, an unspeakably cruel king who 
started two wars against God's people. Eventually, just as God's prophet 
predicted, Ahab was killed on orders from the very man he had spared (1 
Ki.22). 

This is not a lesson in how to treat enemies. Rather, Ahab's fatal 
example illustrates the danger of taking halfway measures in dealing 
with sin. 

I know a man who has spent much of his life in prison because of violent 
crimes he did while drunk. When released, he starts out well because he 
avoids alcohol. But then he thinks he can drink in moderation. Soon he's 
in trouble again. 

Don't take halfway measures with dishonesty, lack of self-control, or 
sexual impurity. Instead, deal radically with your sinful tendencies. 
(Read what Jesus said in Matthew 5:29-30 about the eye or hand that 
causes you to sin.) And "put to death" your sinful inclinations (Col. 
3:5). 

Don't put yourself in situations where you are likely to be tempted. Ask 
God to help you take a wholehearted approach to tackling sin. Halfway 
measures are doomed to fail. - HVL 

               We can't afford to play with fire
                   Or tempt a serpent's bite;
               We can't afford to think that sin
                     Brings any true delight.

                                          - Anon.  


THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Jeremiah 24-26 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:  To be moderate in sin is no more possible
-------------------   than to be moderate in death. 



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