Lessons from O Henry (My Dog)
It's amazing how there's lessons all around us. Lessons from God's Word. Lessons from raising kids. I can't believe how many lessons apply.
This lesson, however was from my dog, O Henry. Ya see, we were eating donuts the other day -- Yep talking about donuts. For some of you this is probably a favorite topic, some a topic of disdain, some both (outwardly, you avoid it, but inwardly you salivate). Some never even think about them (Wow. I can't even conceive of that).
So, I bought a dozen donuts the other day to celebrate a special occasion. Well, we tried to share them, but everyone seemed to be out of town. We all did our best to eat the extra, but really they are quite filling. So we left them out and my tiny dog ate way more than his little stomach could handle. He kept them down and all (I know TMI, sorry) , but his eyes were all glazed over and he looked kind of sick. I empathized. My face looked the same way.
The next day when my daughter took the box out of the fridge and ate the last of the salvaged donuts (pretty sure the dogs hadn't touched them) Henry kind of wretched and started shaking. He knew that those donuts equaled sickness and pain. He didn't want anything to do with that box of sin (don't worry, I know he's not considering his eternal destination, he just knew that those donuts meant suffering). Now I know it's not necessarily sinful to eat a donut, but I think gluttony pretty much qualified for Henry and me.
I was so mad at myself. One day I'm on a crusade to eat healthy and the next I'm plowing into a pile of donuts? Why don't I learn? I mean, I know how bad sugar is for me. I've been reading about it and I'm committed to eating clean...but then there's celebrations and children and they're so cheap, easy and tasty. Just. Like. Sin.
Now, I know sin isn't really popular. I mean, let's face it, no one likes to admit they sin...especially if you know Jesus. At least not big ones. Not important ones. That's what we were like before we came to know the Lord. That's the thing we pray for others to be delivered from. But the thing is...we still sin. Don't we? We gossip; we overeat; we're selfish; self-righteous; envious and angry to name a few of the socially acceptable sins. We hurt people we love. We don't love people God tells us to love. We want to, but we don't. And the thing is, we also hurt ourselves.
It's like Roman's 7 says.
22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
So, in other words. I want to do what's good, but my body and mind and everything in me craves what I know is bad for me. But the verse says it's Jesus who can deliver me. He promises to give us power to resist sin if we'll call on Him. Why don't we? Because it tastes so good for a season and we forget how we feel afterwards.
Lord, help us with our battle grounds of sin be they little in our eyes or big (because they're all big to You).
My prayer for me and you is that, next time when we see that box of sin we remember it's affects and wretch and shake and move far away from it and into the arms of the only one who satisfies...Jesus...our savior.