Daily Devotional, November 3, 2023 Kamikaze Pilots
"For your ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all your paths. The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; the cords of their sins hold them fast." Proverbs 5:21-22
Kamikaze pilots are known throughout history as brave Japanese men who went on suicide missions during the Second World War. Their deployment was part of the Japanese strategy to fight the Americans and the rest of their enemies. Men in their early twenties, embraced self-destruction but in the end were still unable to carry out their main mission which is to defeat the enemy.
Committing sin is tantamount to embracing self-destruction. The damage may not be imminent, but it sure will take place one day. As one preacher puts it “anything done against God is self destructive.” If we will think about it, the sins that we commit do not only hurt the Lord, it stands to destroy us as we live out its consequences. In his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul reminded the church to not allow themselves to be enslaved to sin given its spiritual repercussions: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23)
Our Parish Priest keeps on telling us that we should know how to differentiate God’s punishment versus the consequences of our actions. For instance, getting jail time for stealing could be a punishment from God, but it is definitely the result of breaking the law. The same thing with getting deep into debt. Living paycheck after paycheck deep into debt is not a punishment from the Lord, but a natural consequence of covetousness that led you to swipe your credit card and live beyond your means.
When we turn away from God, we do not only destroy our personal relationship with him, we destroy our lives too. In his epistle, the disciple James warned “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:14-15). Since sin keeps us away from God mainly because of the guilt that we feel, we tend to create a gap between us and our Creator. When we fail to abide by Him and refuse to acknowledge His presence in our lives, we tend to make bad judgments and go for wrong choices. We get desensitized in committing what we think are small sins, until we find ourselves in the path of waywardness, further away from the Lord and fellow believers. 1 John 3:6 says: “No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.”
The sad thing about the Kamikaze Suicide missions is that apart from taking the lives of its pilots, it proved to be an unsuccesful strategy in defeating the enemy. Most of the kamikaze planes missed their targets. When we are in sin, we will never reach our life goals. And even if we get to reach them, we will still feel defeated and empty because worldly success is fleeting and contentment seems elusive. Let us allow Jesus to fill in that emptiness in our hearts, by repenting of our sins and surrendering our lives to Him. He is not the enemy. He did not lay commandments for His sake, but for ours. These commands are meant to protect us from destroying ourselves and the people around us. By acknowledging that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, we can destroy sin and enjoy the victory that our Heavenly Father offers. As 1 John 1:9 says: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
We will never have peace in our hearts when we are away from Jesus. Let us summon the courage to let go of our grasp on our evil ways and hold on to the one true God who saves us from self-destruction and lets us live our lives to the fullest. John 10:10 says “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” It is never worth it to live a life apart from our Heavenly Father.
Thank you for reading through our devotional today. I invite you to ponder on Romans 6:15-23 and Colossians 3:5-6 to dig deeper on today’s topic.
Reflection Question: Are you living in sin? Do you feel like you are self-destructing?
Conversation with the Lord: Heavenly Father, I place my heart on your hands and surrender my sins to you. Please take them away from me and allow me to thank you for keeping me from self-destructing. Allow me to realize that I can only live the best life if I abide by you. Amen.