Last week I went shopping in search of a new pair of black slacks. I mentally prepared myself for the long process and the possibility of failure, being the halfhearted shopper I am. Starting at the sale racks, I took 6 pairs into the dressing room, and against all odds, the very first one fit perfectly. I never tried on the rest.
The following day, heading for groceries at a Meijer super-store, I felt like a million in my new slacks. But as I entered the multi-panel, slide-away glass doors, shrill alarms went off all over the place. Waaa! Waaa! Waaa!
The store greeter waved me in with a smile. “Happens all the time,” she said, as I chose a cart. “It’s our malfunctioning sensors.” But I wasn’t so sure.
As I pushed my grocery cart up and down the aisles I began to think about getting out of the store. If the alarm sounded again, Meijer personnel wouldn’t be as inclined to wave me out with a cart full of merchandise.
That episode was a valuable picture of sin: easy to get into and difficult to get out of. As many pastors say, “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”
Why is it so hard to be conscious of this when we’re on the way in? The only answer is that temptation is tantalizing. The positive here-and-now blinds us to the negative here-after. We say: “just this once,” or “everybody’s doing it,” or “I’ll leave it behind when I’m older” or “I won’t get hooked.”
God is well aware of our talent for rationalizing our way right into trouble. That’s why he established his own version of sensomatic barcode labels within each person. It’s called a conscience, and as we’re heading into sin, the alarm bells sound. Depending on age, experience, and desire, those “waaa’s” might be dim, deafening, or somewhere in between.
I hope my conscience-warnings stay on the loud side, so there’s a better chance I’ll heed them. As for the very loud alarms at Meijer, on my way out, the “waaa’s” sounded again, which is when I knew there had to be something wrong with my new pants. I figured this time I was headed for the back room and wondered if they’d let me refrigerate my milk while I was in custody.
Standing in front of a female employee, I reached down my pant leg to feel for a magnetic strip while telling her I’d just bought those slacks. When I invited her to reach in, too, she stepped back and said, “That’s ok. You’re free to go.”
And that’s what God says, too. If we stray into sin and long to get out, he’s always willing to help set us free.
“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” (Psalm 103:8)