The Prison of Sin
“…they came to a halt at the Gate of the Guard.”
Sin is a jail that imprisons and kills its captives. The cell doors are attractive in great magnitude and multitudes of human beings enter through these doors every day. These doors are as deadly as bait hanging on a hook: Once you “bite” into the forbidden fruit of sin, you are entering into the realm of darkness and death.
The door of sin is extremely dangerous. If someone comes to close to it, they run the risk of being suctioned to the very threshold of hell. The best way to avoid falling into the trap of sin is to stay as far away as possible from these doors and get closer and closer to God.
The children of God are not exempt from falling into this prison. But God has provided an escape door and danger signs all along the path. Christians that enter the “prison of sin” do so, for the most part, knowingly. For this reason, we do not have an excuse to sin.
In this passage of Nehemiah, we see the people of Israel singing and worshipping the Lord over the newly finished wall of Jerusalem. Two different choirs were surrounding the city. The second choir arrived at the door of the prison and it stood still.
This teaches us that even in the middle of our service to God; we are tempted and can easily fall into temptation, which leads by the way, to the “jail” of evil.
What did the Israelites do to conquer sin?
They stopped. When we are tempted we must stop and reflect, to allow God to speak to us and take us away from the entrance of the world of sin.
Then, they continued on their way until they reached the temple of God. This is the correct way. God is our refuge and the only one that can save us from the prison of sin.
