Happy Trails to You

            Benjamin Sickles could not escape the police in Washington, Pennsylvania. Early on the morning of July 5, Sickles broke into a Subway restaurant and stole nine bags of potato chips.

            He had broken a glass door to get inside and had tried to steal money from the cash register. That proved unsuccessful, so he settled for the bags of chips.

            He might have escaped except that he left bag after bag (all empty!) along his trail. Law enforcement officials simply followed the bags until they led them all the way to Sickles.
            I think we humans look like Benjamin Sickles to God. We engage in our sin and somehow convince ourselves that we are getting away with it. However, we do not realize that the residue of our sin leaves a trail that leads all the way back to us.

            If I may take the last part of Numbers 32:23 out of its context: "...you may be sure that your sin will find you out.”

           

Story source: WORLD magazine

Faithful Husbands

            Faithfulness is important for husbands, and it must be demonstrated. One wife, long ago, perhaps was influenced by the old Russian proverb, “Trust but verify.”           

            Her husband had not arrived home from work. It grew very late. At last she sent telegrams to five of his friends, each bearing this message, “Bob is not home. Is he spending the night with you?”

            When Bob finally made it home, he was met by five telegrams from his friends, all replying, “Yes.”

            Husbands should be faithful to their wives. If they are not, those indiscretions have a tendency to be discovered. This story reminds me of what Moses said in Numbers 32, 23 But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out. ESV

Impeding Progress

1 Such a large crowd of witnesses is all around us! So we must get rid of everything that slows us down, especially the sin that just won't let go (Heb. 12:1a.) CEV

It is said that the army of Alexander the Great was advancing on Persia. The moment arrived when all might be lost. The problem? The soldiers had accumulated so much plunder from previous victories; the possessions were beginning to weigh them down. They were no longer like soldiers—they were like a traveling pawnshop!

Alexander recognized the issue. He ordered that all of the booty be piled up and burned.

This did not go over well with the soldiers… initially. In time, they understood their commander’s astuteness. One historian has written, “It was as if wings had been given to them—they walked lightly again.” The army proceeded once more to victory.

The writer of Hebrews was seeking to motivate the Christians to do symbolically the same thing. They were weighed down by false values, which translated into a defeated lifestyle. He challenged them to take inventory, and to throw everything away that hindered their walk with Jesus.

Might we be wise to do the same?

Source: Our Daily Bread, July 3, 1992

The Two Bears

           Who doesn’t like a teddy bear? They’re cute; they’re cuddly. Unfortunately, sometimes children consign their views of teddy bears onto real ones. That’s dangerous.

            In 1990, two boys climbed over a fence at the Bronx Zoo in New York City and descended into the polar bear compound. Later, workers found their lifeless bodies.

             One writer applied this story to pet sins. All of us are tempted to maintain pet sins. Watch out! Your pet sins can kill!

  

29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell (Mt. 5:29-30.)

The Baron and the Lion

            Rick Atchley told the story of a baron who had a lion, which he kept for a pet. Tragically, the lion one day killed the baron.

            Rick pointed out that some people have pet sins. The lion was not designed to be a pet, and neither are sins—both will kill you.

What is Sin?

              “Sin comes when we take a perfectly natural desire or longing or ambition and try desperately to fulfill it without God. Not only is it sin, it is a perverse distortion of the image of the Creator in us. All these good things, and all our security, are rightly found only and completely in him.”

--Augustine, The Confessions of Saint Augustine

Who Was That?

An old story goes like this:

            After putting her grandchildren to bed, a grandmother changed into her old slacks and a droopy blouse and proceeded to wash her hair.

            As she heard the children getting more and more rambunctious, her patience grew thin.  At last she threw a towel around her neck and stormed into their room, putting them back to bed with stern warnings.

            As she left the room, she heard the 3-year old say with a trembling voice, “Who was that?”

            Some people imagine God speaking in the same tone as that grandmother, when he talks with Adam and Eve in Genesis three, after the Fall. I envision a God who is clearly in charge, yes, but also very merciful. Nothing more awful could have occurred than Adam and Eve remaining alive forever in their fallen state. God’s consequences, if you check, also bring ultimate redemption.