22 January | Youth
«There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.» Proverbs 14:12
Anyone who plays with fire risks getting burned. However, those who do this usually believe they have good and acceptable reasons. “That’s not fire,” the six-year-old told his father. “It is just scented smoke!” he explained. With this argument, he tried to keep a lit incense stick with him. The father, however, wanted to avoid a possible burn or, who knows, a fire. He feared what inexperienced hands and eyes fascinated by a small flame were capable of doing.
Here are some temptations that are similar to that “scented smoke”: lying to get along or not having to give explanations, cheating to gain an advantage in something, malicious cunning, illicit sex, connivance with one's own mistakes, turning a blind eye or giving in to the influence of evil. It can also be games that take up time, friendships, films and reading that make you less pure, false hopes fed by ideas and beliefs that do not come from Heaven… these are some of the many that we could mention.
We are all subject to the influence of evil. Against sin, no one is completely shielded. In fact, there are some temptations so specific that only believers will face them. For example, engaging in sacred things in a careless or mechanical way, like the sons of the priest Aaron. This is where Nadab and Abihu failed (Lev 10:1-2). They not only got used to treating sacred things as common; they also closed themselves off from all types of advice, warnings and corrections. They became insensitive, numb from wine, with confused minds and “their moral perceptions dulled” (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 361). They nullified the action of the Holy Spirit in their conscience, preventing Him from convincing them of sin, righteousness and judgment. They played with fire and finally got burned.
The sad experience of these young people remains for us as a counterexample. What would Christ have done in their place? And how would Jesus act in my place, faced with the dilemmas I have faced? Think about this when you have the remote control in your hand, when you access the internet, when you accept an invitation and when you go to church to worship. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—These, O God, You will not despise” (Ps 51:17).