Don't Eat the Guacamole!

Avocado’s and I have a love/hate relationship. I love them, but they hate me. Anytime I eat anything that has avocados in it I get sick! My friend Patrick makes the absolute best guacamole you've ever tasted! It's creamy, spicy and oh...so good. This past Saturday night we had a going away party for my friends Ty & Kelly and Kelly made the request for Patrick to make his famous guacamole. He did and it was one of best batches he has ever made! I couldn't resist, I took a little bite and man it was so good! So I thought to myself....a little bit more won't hurt me, after all it's been a couple years since the last time I ate any, maybe it won't make me sick anymore. So I took a few more bites, telling everyone that it was so good it would be worth a little stomach ache. Boy was I wrong! Within an hour I was in pain with stomach cramps and just a few minutes later I was in the bathroom throwing up everything I had eaten. For the rest of the night...while everyone else was playing games and having fun, I was on the couch nursing an avocado hangover!! I ended up going home before the party was over.

This got me to thinking....don't we sometimes treat sin the same way? Maybe a little one won't hurt us; after all for the most part we are a good person. So, we tell a little lie and we get away with it. We tell another one because we didn't see any repercussions from the first one and before long we are caught up in a web of deceit. What about good Christian people that get caught up in having an affair? We start off just in innocent flirtation, then it's on to a lunch for two...knowing it's wrong but saying it feels so good to be with this person...he/she really understands me! Before long things get out of control and it's now a long way off from innocent flirtation. Or how about holding back giving our tithes because we are having a financial crunch (yes, I believe this is a sin.) Just this one time we tell ourselves. But this time turns into next time and next time turns into just never giving them…ever. If I'm honest all these "sins" feel good at one point, just like with me eating the guacamole tasted good at the time. We brush away the feelings because we want the good feelings to last. But......it always catches up with us! Lies hurt people and breaks trusts. Affairs destroy families and lives. And before long we hit a rough patch financially or lose a job and wonder where God is. We end up with consequences far above what we could have imagined and while the party of life is going on around us we are on the couch......better yet on our knees begging God for forgiveness while trying to pick up the pieces of our lives.

At one point while lying on the couch feeling miserable, Kelly turned to me and asked me....Was it worth it? My answer....NO! I had learned my lesson...I can not eat guacamole! It doesn't matter that I only ate about a tablespoon; it was enough to bring me down. The memory is fresh and I will run from it if I ever see it again, won't even stand in the same room as it!

I want to see sin the same way...it's not worth it. The repercussions, the consequences, the distance from God...all of it not worth it! No matter how small the sin is...it leads to bigger ones. No matter how good it feels...it leads to pain and heartache. I want to always keep alive the memories of pain caused by sin and run from it!