"Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." James 1:13-15 (KJV).

Oh, how important it is for the Christian man and woman to guard their minds. We sin due to lust that forms in our thoughts. Lust is merely the desire of something which takes away from our normal God given life. It can even be called covetousness, or greed.

In the New Testament it is even called idolatry. "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry." Colossians 3:5 (KJV). Paul was instructing the Christians to put these things to death in our lives. The Christian must fight against the onslaughts of sin and evil in our lives every day.

Evil begins taking place in our minds when we are drawn away from our place with God; when we are drawn away from Walking With God, and begin to entertain thoughts of evil. How can I obtain that new car? How can I obtain that new home? How can I obtain that other man’s wife? and these things begin to control our thinking. We become obsessed with the thought of obtaining things and pleasures and comforts - drawn away into immorality. I believe that Martin Luther the reformer is given credit for saying, "You may have a bird fly over your head, but you will not allow it to light and build a nest." Allowing the evil, sinful thought to stay, "build a nest" is lusts conception, and when lust is conceived it brings forth sin: and sin, when it is finished brings forth death.

Christians are people of life; and in particular; new life in Jesus Christ. When we allow sin to come and roost in our hearts and lives we begin losing our desire for God, prayer, the reading and study of His Word; and certainly living for Him is the farthest thing from our minds. Oh, that every Christian reading this today would check and examine their hearts, and the thinking of their minds. What is the foremost thought you have at this time? I would imagine that right now if you are reading this you are next door to coming home or are already there.

As Christians we are ministers of righteousness, and ministers of reconciliation. If we are not Walking With God we can not be either one effectively. For the Christian to continue in sin is deadly. The Christian cannot become spiritually dead, but we can have our physical life cut short due to sin. The MACARTHUR STUDY BIBLE note, "Sin is not merely a spontaneouos act, but the result of a process. The Gr. words for ‘has conceived’ and ‘brings forth’ liken the process to physical conception and birth. Thus James personifies temptation and shows that it can follow a similar sequence and produce sin with all its deadly results. While sin does not result in spiritual death for the believer, it can lead to physical death (1Cor. 11:30; 1 John 5:16)." p.1927.

"For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep." 1 Corinthians 11:30 (NKJV). "If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that." 1 John 5:16 (NKJV).