May 30, 2026 -- Proverbs 12:2 -- Are you a sin-o-phobe?

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

A good man obtains favor from the LORD,
but a man of evil devices he condemns.
Proverbs 12:2 ESV
 
Who is the good man? As a New Testament Christian reading this, we know the good woman, the good man, is one who has been made aware of his great sinfulness. His absolute need for cleansing, accomplished by the blood of Jesus, is something he is constantly aware of and that which he meditates on, and this humbles him. Such a person receives favor from the LORD—that is, he is accepted by the LORD, he receives the blessings of God, the Spirit of the LORD lives in him and restrains his sin. This restraint of sin is urgently necessary. The whole book of Proverbs is written for believers, read by those instructed in the LORD, so that they will be warned, prepared to renounce sin, hate it, and return to God.
 
A man (or woman) of evil devices does not recognize thought patterns that are destructive and displeasing to God, instead, he indulges them. A human heart where even a small foothold is yielded to sin, that little territory of sin will lead to the establishment of headquarters where sin becomes a virus factory, sending infection into all the thoughts and actions of that person’s life. Sin blinds the sinner to its motives, its self-aggrandizing, and its hardening effects. All these streams of infection lead to rebellion against all the ways of God.
 
Have you ever met a germophobe? You might hand him a cookie, but he’ll refuse to eat it because you didn’t wash your hands before you picked up that cookie. He is so disgusted by uncleanness, that he sanitizes a doorknob before handling it. I wonder, dear fellow believer, are you a sin-o-phobe? That is what is pictured here. Sin, even the thought of acting sinfully, ought to elicit from you a gut-level revulsion.
 
Father in heaven, I confess how easily I neglect the filthiness and nastiness of sin and its effects. I do not ponder the fact that the washing away of sin and its effects could only be accomplished at the cost of Jesus’ priceless blood. You did not spare Your own Son but crushed Him in my place so that Your anger against sin would be turned away. Spirit of God, as I reflect on this, this vast treasure-store of grace beyond my deserving, yet in love applied to me, renew in me a holy zeal to be the saint you make me to be in Christ Jesus. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/TxC16duiHvQ?si=m_8OPCBXP13AmLYd O Lord, My Rock and My Redeemer
 

Copyright © 2026 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.