If you could know something right now that would help you to avoid some pain later, would you want to know that? It is true that some of the lessons we learned in life were helpful to have experienced. We teach our kids at a young age what hot is. My 2-year-old has been taught this and yet when we put something on his plate and tell him it is hot he will put it right in his mouth. He then immediately spits it out and tells me it is hot. Pain from life experience teaches us on how to avoid pitfalls.
Of course, there are things we don’t need to try in other to know that they bring pain. Drugs bring diseases and kill the body. Sexual promiscuity brings diseases, risks and guilt. Lies bring stress and pressure to try to maintain that cover. Decisions that go against God’s ways, cost us dearly.
How can you actually avoid the trap of sin? Sin always looks good and it might seem alright and even fun at first, but then the guilt comes, the sorrow and the pain from the decisions that you have made.
Thinking of sin as a trap, is actually a pretty good illustration. When Mr. Mouse comes out looking for food, he is not expecting what is coming to him. There is a little peanut butter there and they smell that and it looks like what they have always wanted. They jump in head first, without even a second glance and just as quickly they are dead. We want to avoid that. Imagine what would happen if they would have mouse trap training. Little mice, sitting around listening to old man mouse talk about how to avoid getting caught in a trap. Mouse casualties would go way down. They could maybe recognize a trap as a trap and steer clear.
You need to learn to recognize and avoid the traps of sin before you are caught in its grips! The only way to do that is to do what God says!
Keep God’s Word
“Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.” Proverbs 7:2
If I handed you a candy bar and told you to just hold it for me, that would be different from telling you to keep it. You you keep something it means that you possess it. You own it. With the Word of God you are told to possess it and store it up, so that it doesn’t get lost. You are to guard it as the apple of our eye.
To say something is the apple of your eye, is saying that it is something you will guard with the utmost care. Your eyes are an important asset to your daily life. If you don’t care for you eyes, you can find yourself in trouble later on. The Word of God, then, is to be guarded in your life with the utmost care. The Word of God needs to replace the sin that is written on your heart naturally. That teaching speaks to it and provides a new way of living.
Pay Attention
Where does the action you are about to take lead? What does the Bible say about this particular thing? What is your plan to avoid sin? There needs to be a plan which will only come from an integration of God’s Word into your life.
Do you understand how dreadful sin really is for you? Part of this section of Proverbs tells a story about a young man who was just out wandering around and he ends up with a woman who is looking to seduce him. He clearly has no plan and has not thought this whole thing through. The sad part is that even though this guy thought he was just going to have physical pleasure, that he was actually altering his life. He will never be the same again, spiritually or emotionally.
“Do not let your heart turn to her ways or stray into her paths. Many are the victims she has brought down; her slain are a mighty throng. Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death.” Proverbs 7:25-27
Knowing that sin leads to death and that sin has always has a consequence ought to make you stop and think. Too often people don’t stop to think because they don’t know what God desires. They don’t open their Bible and see what the trap looks like and how to avoid it. It is all there! You are not a mouse just walking around by your nose and senses. You are not just a bunch of hormones. You are a person designed in the image of God who have been given the ability to discern what is a trap and what isn’t. The warnings are clear; do not be foolish.
You can avoid sin’s trap by doing what God says.
No Throw Aways 
Nice! If only we would heed the warnings and avoid the traps. Even being the type that watches others get caught in traps and so tries to avoid them, I have still been caught in a few — OUCH! I guess it’s how we learn because we are SO stubborn and SO sure we know what we know. How often does God say, “It’s hot.” and we put it in our mouths, get burnt, spit it out, and say hot!. Then we look at God like it’s His fault we got burned! Ah, why does He put up with us? It’s all about the love 🙂
“A man’s own folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the Lord.” Proverbs 19:3 In other words, the warnings are there, they are ignored and then God gets blamed. It happens a lot but thankfully God is patient with us.