The Besetting Sin – Hebrews 12:1

“The Besetting Sin”
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which cloth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,” Hebrews 12:1
Does the sin that so easily besets us bother us to the point of seeking God’s forgiveness or do we just say, “Well, God knows that I just have a difficult time with…?” I believe it was Billy Sunday (1862-1935) who said, “One reason sin flourishes is that it is treated like a cream puff instead of a rattlesnake!” Perhaps there is more truth there than we desire to admit. I was reading a selected biography of John “Praying” Hyde (1865-1912) and came across an incident in the life of Bro. Hyde. It seems he was convicted by the question proposed to another, supposedly saved man. The inquirer asked the man whether, “He himself was saved.” Mr. Hyde said, “The question went home to my heart; for if that question had been asked of me, I would have to confess that ‘Christ had not fully saved me.”‘ NO, I am not suggesting you can be “half saved” but listen to the rest of the statement. Mr. Hyde said, “…because I knew that there was sin in my life which had not been taken away.” Say, my friend, is that sin in your life troublesome enough to the point of making you “think” you might not be saved? Do you excuse that besetting sin or do you wish to get it out of your life? What excuse are you using to appease your conscience? — P.H.

Prepared by Roger Fulk, from the “Baptist Bread” February 12th, 2020 devotional by author Paul Heaton, Pastor, Bible Baptist Church, Lupton, MI. with permission from Tim Green, editor Baptist Bread.