James 1:14-15 (ESV) 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
I absolutely LOVE riding my bike. I grew up in a small town in Southern Illinois where all there was to really do was to hop on your bike and go out until the sun came down. My two older brothers and I would particularly LOVE to ride along the oil field roads all throughout the country (even though we weren’t supposed to). We would ride for miles and miles and miles on these gravel roads through the “backwoods” of the countryside. Stopping and throwing rocks at the big green oil pumps to see whose could make the biggest “CLANG” sound. It was an adventure every single time, every single day! When it would be about dinner time we would double back home and pass…wait for it….THE HILL! DUN DUN DUN!!!!
Every day, on our return ride, we passed this huge hill. Covered in furrows and bits of gravel. This hill was more steep than the cost of eggs right now! Our stepfather always warned us not to ride down that hill, even though it was a huge shortcut to get home faster. But man did it look so fun. Day after day, week after week, month after month…we would always stop and look at it, throw a few sticks down the hill, and then ride on. Yet…one day that changed. My oldest brother did something we never dared to do. He actually rode up to the edge of this steep hill. Paused for a few seconds, looked back at us, gripped the handlebars of his Mongoose Sycamore SX Mountain Bike (Mongoose used to make the good stuff back in the 90s mind you), and he did it. He went down that hill!
We ran up to the edge thinking this was the last we would ever see of our oldest brother. By the time we got up to the edge to look down he was already halfway down! It was exciting to watch him! He was going to do it! He was going to make it! Then his front tire got stuck in a furrow and he flew face first down the rest of the hill. By the time we road all the way around, he was still on the ground in a great deal of pain. His wrist totally swollen and bruised, face bloodied from the rocks, shirt torn from the rifts in the dirt, bike wheel bent. What was at first an exciting trip and moment, ended up in tragedy (he was fine eventually…minus a dislocated wrist).And our sin is JUST like this hill. We stand at the top looking down on it thinking, “I know I shouldn’t do this, but this would be awesome in the moment!” Not thinking about what could happen in the future. Not listening to the warnings from God or other brothers and sisters who ended up at the bottom of their “hill”. When you find yourself in these moments looking at your version of the hill, I pray you recollect the Scripture above from James. Your sin starts out as a fleeting desire that seems so innocent, and snowballs into an inescapable plummet down a rocky, jagged hill. When faced with these scenarios, I pray that you are reminded that Christ ALWAYS grants us a better way! A holy way! I safer and far more fulfilling way! HIS Way…because He is The Way!
Soli Deo Gloria!
