Our Corrupt Minds

Genesis 6:5

The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. (NIV)

John N. Oswalt

What the Hebrew says is that the very way we go about forming images in our minds is wholly corrupt... We do not automatically focus upon what is noble, good and true, as Paul urged us to do (Phil. 4:8). Rather our imaginations drift to the pornographic, the horrible, the perverse, and the corrupt.

~ Called to Be Holy

pages 40-41

Birds are Wiser than Greedy People

When a bird sees a trap being set, it stays away. But not these people! They set an ambush for themselves; they booby-trap their own lives! Such is the fate of all who are greedy for gain. It ends up robbing them of life. 
(Proverbs 1:17-19 NLT)

"The sight of danger leads to the avoidance of danger. Instinct directs the bird, reason the man. Yet man is so infatuated with sin that in his pride he will not do what the bird does by instinct. She flies away from the net that she has been being spread, but man rushes into it."

~ Charles Bridges

Matthew Henry: Sin's Aggravating Factors

Factors that make our sins
"MORE HEINOUS IN THE SIGHT OF GOD, AND MORE DANGEROUS TO OURSELVES"
 
1. The more knowledge we have of good and evil, the greater is our sin

2. The greater profession we have made of religion, the greater hath been our sin

3. The more mercies we have received from God, the greater has been our sin.

4. The fairer warning we have had from the word of God, and our consciences, concerning our danger of sin, the greater is the sin if we go on in it.

5. The greater afflictions we have under for sin, the greater is the sin if we go on in it.

6. The more vows and promises we have made of better obedience, the greater has our sin been.

Matthew Henry

A Method For Prayer

cited in The Devoted Life

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