Tastiest
TreatsJames 1:12-16 (NLT)
God blesses the people who patiently endure testing. Afterward they will
receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
[13] And remember, no one who wants to do wrong should ever say, "God is
tempting me." God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts
anyone else either. [14] Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil
desires. [15] These evil desires lead to evil actions, and evil actions
lead to death. [16] So don't be misled, my dear brothers and sisters.
The latest fuzzy creature to visit us has been
a little field mouse. As the temperatures outside are getting
colder this cute little rodent has found a way inside our home and has
enjoyed of all things, our cook book (I guess he likes the delicious
pictures). We found portions of it reduced to confetti like shreds
mixed with the sure evidence of a mouse--droppings! What to do?
The slightest hint of a broken mouse in a
mousetrap was out of the question for my animal loving wife, Lisa.
Having to trap and dispose of a live mouse glued to the floor of
one of those little mouse motels, out of the question, too. What
to do?....Hire a professional exterminator!
Low
an behold the commercial exterminator was scheduled for his regularly
contract visit in a few days. Ask the exterminator. He arrived,
Wednesday morning, full of political commentary and conversation as he
toured my home with the spray tank at his side and the spray wand
swinging about like some famous symphony conductor. It was
Congress this, the Administration that, spray here, spray there. I
finally interrupted, "We have a mouse!" "No problem, I will get
some 'drop bags' after I finish;" the symphony of politics and poison
continued unto completion, a masterpiece, never a wand beat or a
political point missed.
"What are drop bags?" I
asked. "They are great," he said, "The mouse will think these are
the 'tastiest treats' he has ever tasted." "He will eat and eat
and then he will get thirsty and leave your home looking for something
more to drink, and the more he drinks, the thirstier he gets until he
dies outside in the cold."
WOW, there's a
message there! Many of this life's "tastiest treats" lured us into
a life that consumed, but never satisfied us. The more we
consumed, the more we wanted until we, by the grace of God, saw what lay
at the end of this path of consumption...our own demise, outside the
love, comfort, and protection of our God.
Each
of us have our own particular "drop bags;" they are all equally
harmful or fatal to our life here and eternally. Pray for help
each time they are placed in your path. Then, look for the way
through them.
Philip. 4:13 (NLT)
For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the
strength I need.
by
Pastor John
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