The beast within

This quote came in my daily E-Word devotional:

An officer in India had tamed a leopard. From the time when it was a kitten he had brought it up, till it went about the house like a cat, and everybody played with it. But he was sitting in his chair one day asleep, and the leopard licked his hand. But as he licked, the skin was broken, and the taste of blood came to the leopard. It rushed forth to kill, and was no more at ease till it reached the jungle. That leopard, though tamed, was a leopard still. So a man, sobered by moral motives but unchanged in heart, is a fallen man still, and the taste of blood, I mean the taste of sin, will soon reveal the tiger in him.

I haven't seen the sermon this quote came from, but perhaps he was referring to Jeremiah 13:23. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil."

This points to the need for a radical heart transformation that only God can bring about. Even those who are great folks, heros even, are in need of a Savior. No matter how many good things a person does, there are still impure motives, thoughts, and attitudes that are high-handed treason against a perfectly holy God.

Praise the Lord for this awesome Work of salvation! I praise Christ for His perfect sacrifice that made me right with God! (Romans 5:8)