Now please don’t try this at home. At a meal recently someone, who will remain nameless, was playing with a lit candle. He was passing his fingers rapidly through the flames. I guess to show how brave and daring he was. Interestingly, we can move away from pain more quickly than we experience it. We might remove our hand speedily from a very hot hob before we actually feel the burning sensation. Maybe it is some kind of warning signal in our brain.
All the behavioural passages in the Bible are a bit like a warning from God. God, who is love, forgives us ahead of our wrongdoings, and tells us to get our hands out of the fire before it hurts. Immorality, lying, getting high on drugs or alcohol, violence, stealing, backbiting, gossip etc., all lead to physical and/or emotional pain for ourselves and others. So stop doing them before someone gets really hurt.
We all do wrong things, don’t we? If, therefore, you are doing something wrong, and chances are you are and you know it, get your hand out of the fire.