file: /pub/resources/text/Our.Daily.Bread: db941206.txt
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OUR DAILY BREAD                      Tuesday, December 6, 1994
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READ:  Proverbs 6:20-29

                "A DEADLY PET"

   "Can a man take fire to his bosom, and
         his clothes not be burned?

              - Proverbs 6:27

It was a shocking tragedy.  A 15-year-old boy was
strangled by the family's pet.  The slender youth
had gone to an upstairs bedroom to play with an
11-foot Burmese python.  Nobody is sure how it
happened, but the supposedly tame snake turned
into a killer that took the boy's life.

Why play with a powerful snake that can turn into
a horrifying agent of death?  Why even bring such
a potentially dangerous creature into the house?
This news story changes the old adage "Don't play
with fire!" into a flashing warning signal.

This warning applies even more to the hazard of
playing with sin -- some "small" thing that seems
merely to give pleasure without hurting anyone.
At first it seems harmless, but feed it, let it
grow, take pride in it, and a trifling sin can
become a terrible tragedy that "brings forth
death" (Jas. 1:15).  The writer of the Proverbs
applied this truth to the area of sexual purity.
"Do not lust after her beauty," said Solomon (6:25).

As believers in Jesus Christ, we must check even
the smallest evil the moment it springs up in our
heart by confessing it to the Lord and asking Him
to help us overcome it.  Toying with a pet sin is
like playing with a deadly pet.  Sooner or later
it will turn on us.

    -- Vernon C. Grounds

 We can't afford to play with fire
    Nor tempt a serpent's bite;
 We can't afford to think that sin
     Brings any true delight.

    -- Anon.

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          THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
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  The most deadly sins do not leap upon us,
           they creep upon us.

THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:  Acts 26-28

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