Don’t Take Pleasure in Your Sin While You Are Still in It

Don’t Take Pleasure in Your Sin While You Are Still in It

Jeremiah 48:11-12
“Moab has been at ease from his youth and has settled on its lees; it has not been poured from vessel to vessel, nor has it gone into exile. Therefore its taste remains in it, and its aroma has not changed.
12 But behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will send my destroyers against them. They will empty her vessels and break her jars in pieces.”

Do you know what “lees” are?

Lees are the sediment left after wine fermentation—a mixture of grape skins, seeds, and sometimes tiny impurities from the grapes. After fermentation, the wine is usually poured into other containers for use, leaving the lees behind. While the lees themselves may seem like waste, they actually play a vital role in wine-making. Wine that rests longer on its lees develops richer flavor, better aroma, and more appealing appearance than wine that is moved too quickly.

High-quality wines, like champagne, may stay on their lees for months, even four months or more, to enhance their taste and value.

Now, returning to the verse:

“Moab has been at ease from its youth and has settled on its lees; it has not been poured from vessel to vessel…”

Historically, Moab was a nation that enjoyed peace and prosperity from its beginnings. It rarely experienced serious conflict, famine, or disasters. Yet, despite these blessings, the nation continued in sin and failed to honor God.

The Bible compares Moab to wine resting on lees—prosperous, untroubled, and untouched by hardship. Moab believed nothing bad could ever happen to it, thinking itself specially blessed, while others like Israel faced God’s discipline.

But as verses 11-12 make clear, the time came when God sent destroyers against Moab. Its prosperity vanished suddenly, and its destruction was total. What Moab never expected happened.

Today, you may be living in sin and feel nothing. You may even prosper, thinking God is ignoring your life, believing, “I’m special; nothing can touch me.” But the Bible warns us:

Zephaniah 1:12
“At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the people who are settled on their lees, who say in their hearts, ‘The Lord will not do good, nor will He do harm.’”

God sees everything. He will examine you—even if you are thriving in sin. Judgment is real, and life is fragile. You could die suddenly and find yourself in hell, like the rich man in the parable of Lazarus, who lived a life of indulgence without concern for eternity. Then it will be too late to say, “If only I had known.”

Just because God doesn’t seem to act now doesn’t mean He approves of your sin. He may be giving you time to repent, but if you ignore Him, judgment will come, just as it did for Moab.

The time of salvation is now. The opportunity to turn to Jesus is today. Repent from your sins completely, seek baptism by immersion in water in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and God will give you the gift of His Holy Spirit to guide you every day of your life.

Even if your life has reached a critical point, there is still hope for eternal life.

May the Lord bless you richly.

Please share this good news with others.

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