There is a house for sale at 546 Munich Street in San Francisco, California. It is near public transportation and two parks. It is also just minutes from the coast. The house is described as a single-family home with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. You may see a picture of the house with its listing (http://vanguardsf.com/RESI-403636.php) or drive by the property, but that’s all that you’ll get to see. According to the listing, the “Seller will not provide any interior showings or inspections.” It will be sold “AS IS with no repairs,” and no one but the current tenants knows the condition of the inside of the house.
The house is occupied by “tenant and former owner,” but the listing also advises:” Please do not disturb the occupants who will not be vacating prior to the sale.” To make matters worse, the listing states: “The Buyer assumes all risks associated with the existing tenancies after close of escrow. Seller will not transfer any legal action related to any existing tenancies.” According to AOL Real Estate, this statement “means that once you buy the home of mysterious interiors, you also have the responsibility of kicking out the tenants!” *
Now who would want to buy a house without looking at its interior and knowing that the buyer would have to deal with some mysterious tenants?
But WE succumb to the same kind of “listings” frequently…
Satan, the tempter (Matthew 4:3), makes SIN look very appealing, but he purposefully doesn’t disclose all the details about it. He emphasizes the personal pleasure of engaging in sin, but he doesn’t inform the victim that the pleasure is only temporary (Hebrews 11:25) and that the consequences are deadly (Romans 6:23).
Observe the tactics of the tempter with his first “listing”: see Genesis 3...
The “property” that Satan wanted Eve to “buy” was the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, concerning which God had commanded Adam and Eve NOT to eat, “for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17). Satan sought to raise doubts in Eve’s mind as to God’s command and His character by telling her: “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5).
“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate” (Genesis 3:6).
What Satan did NOT “list” were the consequences of sin such as shame (3:7-8), fear (3:10), guilt (3:7-13), hardship (3:16-19), and death (3:22-24).
Satan uses the SAME kind of “listings” to tempt us to sin (1 John 2:15-16; James 1:14-15), without including the destructive consequences. Sadly, each one of us has “bought in” (Romans 3:23).
But God loves us so much that He gave His Son Jesus to die on the cross to pay the price for our redemption from sin (Ephesians 1:7) and to defeat Satan (Hebrews 2:14-15).
Jesus will save those who will place their faith and trust in Him (Acts 16:30-31), turn from sin in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and be baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sin (Acts 2:38). He will continue to cleanse those who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7).
Buying in on Satan’s property is a terrible deal. But God will “buy you back” (redeem you) if you will only accept the Savior’s offer on His terms.
Won’t YOU?
Source:
- David A. Sargent, minister for the Church of Christ at Creekwood in Mobile, Alabama, is also the editor of an electronic devotional entitled Living Water." To learn more about this excellent resource contact David via their website: http://www.creekwoodcc.org
* Information gleaned from http://realestate.aol.com, http://vanguardsf.com, and “Buying a House Without Looking Inside” by Brett Petrillo in Daily Bread (1/7/13), an e-mail ministry of the Bear Valley Church of Christ in Denver, CO. See http://www.bearvalleycofc.com.
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