Full Grown Sin
Listen to his words about dealing with sin. “Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee” (Psa. 119:11). Hear his answer to the question about how a young man can cleanse his way, “By taking heed according to Your word” (Psa. 119:9). Pay close attention to the prayer offered. “With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments” (Psa. 119:10).
Yet that young man in his adult life, lusted after another man’s wife, committed adultery with her, devised a plan to kill the husband. You know who he was. He was David, the man after God’s own heart. What happened? To understand this story is to fortify our faith and keep us from making the same mistake.
James chapter one describes the path to sin that David walked. “Each one is tempted.” That includes David and all of us. Where does the temptation come from—not from Satan putting any man in a situation where he has no other choice but to sin. James says that the temptation comes from the desires of the flesh. “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires.” His own lusts begin to rule in his heart, and he is enticed. This is precisely what happened to David. He watched a beautiful woman and the enticement carried him another step. These events in his life parallel how pornography enters our hearts and destroys men. He then acted on his fleshly desire. James described this sin conceiving.
But it does not stop at this point. James describes it using these words. “It gives birth to sin.” The line has been crossed and the door opened into David’s heart and it became the source of all the other sins that followed.
Look at James words again. “Sin when it is full grown, brings forth death.” Think of the power of full grown sin. Joseph’s brothers were envious of Joseph’s coat and the dreams of Joseph. Look at full grown sin. Some wanted to kill him. They brought the tattered coal to Jacob and watched their father grieving almost to his grave and not one of them told their father the truth. The Bible speaks of “adding sin to sin (Isa. 30:1). This is what full grown sin looks like.
How could this tragic story have been avoided? When he saw the beautiful woman and was enticed, he should have recalled the covenant Job made with his eyes. “Why then should I look upon a young woman” (Job 31:1). As the scene unfolded, he should have fled from the house like Joseph. God says to us, “Flee fornication” (1 Cor. 6:18). When temptation comes, we must never forget what full grown sin looks like!