SOAP Devotional 2014-05-13
Scripture – Observation – Application – Prayer
Scripture:
And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before. It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life. They prove the truth of this proverb: “A dog returns to its vomit.” And another says, “A washed pig returns to the mud.” (2 Peter 2:20-22 NLT)
Observation:
It is worse for someone to get saved and then return to their old life style. As the sayings go, “a dog returns to its vomit” or “a washed pig returns to the mud.”
Application:
We see it when some one walks the aisle or gets with someone and prays to make Jesus their Lord and Savior only to at some later date to begin to allow the old habits and the old way of living to take hold in their life. Before long they are no longer any more than a confessing Christian who does not act like one. They say they are Christian, but there is no evidence. These are the hardest people to reach. It does not say that is impossible, it just says “it would be better if they had never known”. Hell will not be hotter for them than others, it is just that their chances to be reached while they are here on earth are greatly reduced. We must try anyway, because they are worth it. We still pull our dog away from their vomit and we still clean up the pig again.
Prayer:
Father, help me to remember that no one is hopeless. Some have made themselves more difficult than others, but they are still worth the effort. But Lord, help us to warn others so they do not slip away in the first place.
