Delicious Sin

A couple of weeks ago, a dear friend came to sit with our children so my hubby and I could get out for an evening. We went to a local shopping center and, while there, we did what we love to do...he gets a 30 minute massage and I hang out in the bookstore. While casually drifting thru the Christian fiction section, I came across an author I hadn't read much of. His name is Ted Dekker...and being drawn to a set of his books, I purchased the novel "Showdown". Once home from our night out, I settled into a hot tub and started this book.
I'm not even really sure where to start on how this book has affected me, but I literally devoured every word. I couldn't put it down and finished it in mere hours. SO many aspects of his work of fiction mirror the redemptive story of God's grace and mercy for His children. I know I can say that Mr. Dekker is a wonderful author and has a heart for God that is expressed in his work. Over and over again the truths of God's Word were displayed in the actions of these addictive characters and so often it took me a few chapters to even really understand what it was that I just read...took time for me to put the puzzle together in my mind so that I could see God's loving plan woven throughout.
One of those "truths" just hit me as I was emailing my mom about this book (which of course, I passed on for her to read). In the book, the characters that are drawn to "free will" are making their home in the "basement" of this cave dwelling where they live. In this cold, dark place, there are HUGE worms that crawl on the walls leaving behind large quantities of slime. This slime, while horribly disgusting to even think about, is presented to all who will listen as healing, filling and "good". They are eating it, using it to soothe their wounds and believing that it is taking them towards the mind-freeing truth that they so desperately need (apple anyone??).
The truth about the slime? It is just worm slime.
So as my mom mentioned how gross it is to read about it (and it really is...had choke back a gag or two as I read some of the passages), I began to reply to her and then it hit me...
Sin.
God sees it for what it really is - nothing more than gross, disgusting slime. He knows it is nothing more than a lie and a deception so He warns us away from it. He knows that when we partake, we are drawn into the lie that we "need" it, that it will "soothe" the wounds we carry and that it is "helping" us...and when we believe the lie, we are less likely to want the "narrow" path of truth. He knows that as we partake in the sin, we lose the ability to see it for the ugly, gag-inducing grossness that it really is...we begin to see IT as truth.
Beth Moore says in her workbook "Believing God" that she has "discovered that if Satan can't get me with destruction, he will try to get me with distraction". As Christians, we cannot be destroyed because we are already redeemed...but we CAN be distracted from truth and relationship with our Creator...and he does it by making us believe that we need to "eat the slime"...that we need the apple to "know the difference between good and evil" so we can be more like God (Genesis).

Words for the wise: When you find yourself doing something you know is wrong for you...something that you know comes between you and God but you just can't let it go because you need it to "fix" something, remember the visual and STEP AWAY FROM THE SLIME!