Adversity Pursues Sinners
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin ArticlesFrom the Montana Street bulletin, comes the following article written by Caleb Cunningham, a member of the Sunset congregation in Carlsbad, New Mexico:
Can someone live in sin without consequences? Not according to God’s word (Romans 6:23; cf. 2 Samuel 12:1-23). Yet when people dabble in sin and seemingly get away with it, they gain a false sense of security. But if we choose to linger in sin, we can be sure that there will be consequences.
Proverbs 13:21 NASB tells us that “adversity pursues sinners.” If you want a life of problems, a life of chaos and constant stress, then live in sin. You see, God’s world is designed in such a way to make it difficult for the one who persists in sinful living. “The way of the transgressor is hard” (Proverbs 13:15 KJV). God will not make it easy for us to neglect His rule. In fact, God even promises that “Many are the sorrows of the wicked” (Psalm 32:10 NASB).
Wickedness isn’t just limited to murderers and child molesters; wickedness is any violation of God’s law whether it be a sinful act committed or a righteous command ignored (1 John 3:4).
The Lord said through the prophet Isaiah to the Babylonians who were arrogant, lewd, and unmerciful:
“Evil will come on you which you will not know how to charm away; and disaster will fall on you for which you cannot atone, and destruction about which you do not know will come suddenly” (Isaiah 47:11 NASB).
The Babylonians would find trouble on every side, because of their pride, lewdness, and unmerciful nature.
The prophet Amos, warned Israel about the problems they had brought upon themselves because of their sins. The people of Israel would have their lives marked by stress, turmoil, and adversity, and it would be impossible for them to escape it:
“As when a man flees from a lion and a bear meets him or goes home, leans his hand against the wall and a snake bites him” (Amos 5:19 NASB).
The Lord promised that the drunken merry makers of the earth would say:
“Woe to me! Woe to me! Alas for me! The treacherous deal treacherously, and treacherous deal very treacherously” (Isaiah 24:16 NASB).
And the Lord said to them:
“Terror and pit and snare confront you, O inhabitants of the earth. Then it will be that he who flees the report of disaster will fall into the pit, and he who climbs out of the pit will be caught in the snare….” (Isaiah 24:17-18 NASB).
There is no escaping God’s judgment when you’ve been working against Him. Just when you think you are getting ahead, you get knocked back. Just when you think you’ve escaped a problem, ten more will arise.
As Proverbs 5:22-23 NASB says:
“His own iniquities will capture the wicked, and he will be held with the cords of his sin. He will die for lack of instruction, and in the greatness of his folly he will go astray.”
Rather than yield to temptation or think that we can “get away with it” when it comes to sin, let us always choose to do what is right. For though “adversity pursues sinners” (Proverbs 13:21 NASB), the Proverb continues, “But the righteous will be rewarded with prosperity.”