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Job 1:1

Someone has said that when many Christians flee from evil they leave a forwarding address.  They may not want to be immersed in sin, but they do want to stay in touch.

Not so Job.  The Bible tells us that Job was blameless and upright.  How could he maintain such a spotless reputation?  Because he did more than fear God; he also shunned  evil.  Shunned can mean "to rebell: or "to revolt."  Job found sin revolting.  It wasn't because he could not afford all the things that lead to sin; Job was one of the wealthiest men of his time (1:3).  Furthermore Uz where he lived was highly populated and had several kings (Jer. 25:20); hardly a backwoods area.  But Job had an attitude toward sin that left it no chance to get a foothold in his life.  Job didn't simply avoid sin, he ran from it.  Not only that he gave it no opportunity to contact him later.

It is not enough for Christians to avoid the sins they find attractive, they must "flee" from them.  If you don't you can be sure that you and you sin will ultimately get back together again.  As Spurgeon said, "you and your sins must separtate, or you and your God will not come together."

If you've put a sin behind you, put everything associated with that sin behind you as well.  If it's pornography, don't simply store your magazines out in the garage.  Destroy them.  If it's alcohol, don't leave the bottle in the house, pour it out.  If its gossip, cut your "grapevine."  Don't attend those functions that degenerate into gossip sesssions.  You can do more than just refuse to participate; you can put some space between you and your temptation.

Flee sin and burn the bridges behind you!