The harlot in your bosom!

(Thomas Watson, "The Godly Man's
Picture Drawn with a Scripture Pencil")

"Let us throw off everything that hinders and the
 sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with
 perseverance the race marked out for us." Heb. 12:1

There is usually one sin that is the favorite—the sin
which the heart is most fond of. A godly man will not
indulge his darling sin: "I kept myself from my iniquity."
(Psalm 18:23). "I will not indulge the sin to which the
bias of my heart more naturally inclines."

"Fight neither with small nor great—but only with the
king." (1 Kings 22:31). A godly man fights this king
sin. If we would have peace in our souls, we must
maintain a war against our favorite sin, and never
leave off until it is subdued.

Question: How shall we know what our beloved sin is?

Answer 1: The sin which a man does not love to have
reproved—is the darling sin. Herod could not endure
having his incest spoken against. If the prophet meddles
with that sin—it shall cost him his head! "Do not touch
my Herodias!" Men can be content to have other sins
reproved—but if the minister puts his finger on the
sore, and touches this sin—their hearts begin to burn
in malice against him!

Answer 2: The sin on which the thoughts run most, is
the darling sin. Whichever way the thoughts go, the
heart goes. He who is in love with a person cannot
keep his thoughts off that person. Examine what sin
runs most in your mind, what sin is first in your
thoughts and greets you in the morning—that is
your predominant sin.

Answer 3: The sin which has most power over us, and
most easily leads us captive—is the one beloved by the
soul. There are some sins which a man can better resist.
If they come for entertainment, he can more easily put
them off. But the bosom sin comes as a suitor, and he
cannot deny it—but is overcome by it. The young man in
the Gospel had repulsed many sins—but there was one
sin which soiled him, and that was covetousness.

Mark what sin you are most readily led captive by—that
is the harlot in your bosom! It is a sad thing that a
man should be so bewitched by lust, that if it asks him
to part with the kingdom of heaven—he must part with
it, to gratify that lust!

Answer 4: The sin which men most defend, is the
beloved sin. He who has a jewel in his bosom, will
defend it to his death. The sin we advocate and
dispute for, is the besetting sin. The sin which we
plead for, and perhaps wrest Scripture to justify it
—that is the sin which lies nearest the heart.

Answer 5: The sin which a man finds most difficulty in
giving up, is the endeared sin. Of all his sons, Jacob
found most difficulty in parting with Benjamin. So the
sinner says, "This and that sin I have parted with—but
must Benjamin go! Must I part with this delightful sin?
That pierces my heart!" A man may allow some of his
sins to be demolished—but when it comes to one sin,
that is the taking of the castle; he will never agree to
part with that! That is the master sin for sure.

The besetting sin is, of all others, most dangerous.
As Samson's strength lay in his hair—so the strength
of sin, lies in this beloved sin. This is like a poison
striking the heart, which brings death. A godly man
will lay the axe of repentance to this sin and hew it
down! He will sacrifice this Isaac; he will pluck out
this right eye—so that he may see better to go to
heaven.