The Roman soldiers, who scourged Jesus, “twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head” (John 19:2). How long do you think that took? They conceived the idea, searched for a thorn bush, cut offshoots, carefully weaved them into a crown-like shape and mashed it on his head. While they were doing this, what do you suppose was running through their minds?
When you are contemplating and then about to engage in some sinful behavior, what is running through your mind? As you are involved in the activity, do you have any feelings of guilt? While the soldiers were in the process of twisting a crown of thorns, do you imagine any of them may have been thinking, “What am I doing? I really should not be doing this! This is wrong! I should really stop and back away!”? Why didn’t they stop? Because they were too invested in it.
Paul said, “I discipline my body and make it a slave” (1 Cor. 9:27)! Control is possible! We can stop ourselves! How long did that “crown” take? They had all that time to back away!