Remember when you were little and your mom would say it was time for bed, or time for dinner, or time to go home, and you would beg, “Just 2 more minutes!”? My kids do it all the time, but this is nothing new, we’ve all done it. This is essentially what happened to Paul and the guys who were taking him to Rome. They knew they should probably stop where they were, but they just wanted to go a little farther. Then, it would be better.
Check out a map of this trip. Phoenix, the place they were shooting for was just a little ways down the coast from where they were, but that’s not where they ended up. They ended up over miles of open ocean, and eventually shipwrecked on Malta. Malta is roughly 13 times farther away from where they were than Phoenix was. They covered a lot of ground they hadn’t planned on.
Sometimes there are things we know we shouldn’t do. God has warned us in His Word that we shouldn’t. He speaks to us through the Holy Spirit that we shouldn’t. But we tell God, “Just a little farther.” The old adage is so true: Sin will take you further than you ever wanted to go, keep you longer than you ever wanted to stay and cost you more than you ever expected to pay. We say, “Just a little farther,” but really we are swinging open the doors of disobedience. After those doors are open, they can be very hard to shut.
Are there areas in your life that you are telling God, “Just a little further”? Are there things you are doing that you know you have no business doing, and you keep making the excuse that it is just a little more? Before you get carried away by the storm of sin, listen to the Guidance of the Lord. Be patient and obedient, and live in the blessing of God. Say goodbye to an arrogant or disobedient attitude, and say hello to God’s pleasure with you.
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