Do you remember why God destroyed the world by flood? The easy answer is because the world became corrupt. But, do you remember what God saw in man that moved Him to destroy mankind and begin anew? Genesis 6:5 tells us. “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” All have done evil. Psalms 14 reminds us that “there is none who does good, not even one” (Psalms 14:3). No, David is not teaching that we are born totally depraved. The passage itself says that man turned aside and became corrupt. However, we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). But, doing evil and plotting to do evil are two different things. God hates the heart that plans to sin. He hates the heart that has wicked imaginations. Remember, our hearts determine who we are and what we do in life. Jesus taught that murder, adultery, stealing, bearing false witness, etc., all come from the heart (Matthew 15:19). So, what kind of heart do you have? You cannot dismiss this question by simply saying “we are all evil because we all sin.” That has already been admitted. But, do you have the kind of heart that leads you, not only to sin occasionally, but to sin regularly? Even worse, do you have a heart that moves you to plot and plan to sin? This is precisely what Proverbs 6:18 is emphasizing. A heart that devises wicked plans.

While all sin will condemn, God does distinguish between willful and unwilful sins (Numbers 15:27-31). Verse 31 says that the person who sins willfully despises the word of the Lord. It is called a high-handed sin, and anyone who does that is excommunicated. The same truth is taught in Hebrews 10:26. The Hebrews writer tells us that if we sin deliberately there remains no more sacrifice for sin. That does not mean that we can never be forgiven, as some have surmised. Rather, it is simply teaching that when we deliberately sin, the benefits of the sacrifice of Christ are lost to us, unless and until we repent, and there is no other sacrifice that is going to be made. In other words, when we are determined to sin, not even the soul-cleansing blood of our Savior can help us.

As Christians, we should never plan to sin. There are some who think they can take advantage of God’s grace by plotting a course of action that they know is contrary to the Word of God, then simply repenting afterwards, and God will forgive them. Well, that manner of thinking is dangerous on many levels. First, it is to behave in a way that God truly abhors. When a person purposely does something that God hates, he is traveling down a precarious path. To deliberately make God mad is a foolish way of living. The Hebrews writer remind us that “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). Second, it is a high-stake risk. To knowingly sin is to gamble with the most important possession that one has, that is, the soul, and if one loses that gamble, there is no second chance. What happens if that person dies or the Lord comes back before they are able to repent? We all know the answer to that question. They will experience the second death, that is, they will be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14-15), where they will spend all of eternity. There is not any sin that one can devise that is worth that end.

Never plan to do evil. If you do, it demonstrates the same level of depravity that once caused God to destroy the world. Do you want to make God that mad again? No, He will not ever do that again. We have His word on that (Genesis 9:11). But, if we show God that we have a heart that devises wicked plans, He will destroy us in the end, if we do not repent. Let us do all we can to have hearts that are pure. If we are going to plan for something, let it be to please God and gain His divine favor.

As you wind down for the night, think on these things.