Pollution

 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”

— 2 Peter 2:20-22

Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King,

Peter uses a word here to describe what a believer has escaped by knowing You. He uses the word "miasmata" which means "corruption, pollution, things that infect, pollute, or defile." As believers in Christ, we have escaped this sin-sick world of miasmata and its polluting infection upon us. But if a believer gets entangled in that pollution all over again and is overcome by it, they are actually worse off than before they knew Christ. They are accountable for the knowledge that's been revealed to them. A believer who has discovered the way of righteousness, has known it and then turned their backs to it and walked away, are destined for a stronger judgment. David Guzik writes, "It is better for a person to have never known a thing about Jesus than to hear some truth, hold to it for a season, and then later reject it. Greater revelation has a greater accountability."

Lord Jesus, may I never turn my back on you even for a second in order to return to the pollution of this world. May I be one who continues to help others escape from the polluting, corrupting infection of this world and disciple them effectively so that they do not get entangled back in it and overcome. Lord, thank You for saving me and bringing me to Your way of righteousness. Thank You that I have escaped and am now free in You.

— In Jesus' Name I pray, Amen!

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