Category Archives: Sin

All Tangled Up

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When Lars was 8, he loved roaming our neighborhood in search of pets, but not the traditional kind. Throughout his childhood he had a heart for all things cold-blooded: turtles, birds, lizards, fish, and (gulp) snakes.

I well remember the day he came running into the kitchen with a 3 foot long black garter snake draped over his arm. “Mom! Mom! Look what I found!”

He brought the snake’s ugly face up close to mine and said, “Look at his tongue!”

I lunged backwards, filled with fear but trying not to show it. “Yes, I see. A snake!”

“Pet him, Mom. He’s really smooth!”

I forced myself to comply, not wanting to dampen Lars’ enthusiasm, and gingerly touched the snake’s middle.

“Smooth, huh?” Lars said.

“Very,” I said, quickly withdrawing my hand.

As Lars talked he lovingly stroked the length of his new friend like it was a puppy. “It’s ok if I keep him, isn’t it?”

“Only if he stays outside.”

Lars and his snake disappeared, but soon he called me to the front porch. He’d found an old wooden bushel basket and had filled it with fresh grass. “I’m gonna catch crickets for him, Mom. He can live right here by the front door.”

But I knew that snake would slither out of his basket the first chance he got, and by morning, he was gone. Lars was disappointed, but I was elated.

It’s probably wrong to hate one of God’s creatures, but I hate snakes. They’re predatory, quick moving, and unpredictable. That’s why I was startled yesterday to see a snake while walking Jack. It was wound around a small tree in our neighborhood, as big as Lars’ garter snake, but brown.

Fear flashed through me, but in seconds I saw the snake was only an innocent vine crawling up a tree.

But the vine wasn’t really that innocent. It had nearly strangled the life out of the tree. Bulges in the trunk resembled prey being squeezed by a python, and it had climbed high enough to coil around a second tree and then a third. The vine, once a tiny, supple stem of pretty ground cover had grown to 30 feet of stiff strength.

Many of life’s temptations start small just like the vine but end up squeezing the life out of us. It might be a destructive relationship, an addictive habit, an inappropriate goal, or just our belief in a lie. We think we’re stronger than we are and have more will power than we do. The “vine” tickles our ankles, but we ignore it, and it climbs our legs. Before long it’s gripping our hearts and we can’t free ourselves.

But God owns the clippers and is a pruning expert. All it takes is our permission for him to make the cut.

I probably won’t tamper with our neighborhood forest, but it’ll be interesting to see who prevails: the tree or the vine.

“Throw off… the sin that so easily entangles.” (Hebrews 12:1)

Wait on Weight

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Today Birgitta and I took Jack to the vet for treatment of what we thought might be an ear infection. We were right, and we left the office with 4 prescriptions to cure him. But that wasn’t all.

While we were there, our well-padded dog had to get on the scale, and the news wasn’t good. His Kibbles ‘n Bits have been agreeing with him a little too much, and since his last weigh-in, he’s put on 9 new pounds. His grand total is a smidgen below 90, and the doctor recommended a weight of 70, “at the most.”

The lethargy we’ve noticed lately in Jack might be unrelated to ear troubles (as we thought) and more a result of extra girth. The truth is he won’t live as long, feel as good, or enjoy life as much if he holds onto those 20 bonus pounds.

I’ve never been sure how much we should feed Jack, and we’ve been using a plastic scoop-cup to guesstimate his dinner each day. Today we brought the cup with us, for some professional guidance.

“Do you fill it to the brim?” the vet said.

“Yes,” I said.

“Do you know how many cups are in this container?”

“About three,” I said.

“Let’s find out,” he said.

It turns out Jack has been getting nearly twice as much food as he needs. As they say, my bad. Tomorrow we officially begin his weight loss program, though we plan to do the dinnertime-downscale just a bit at a time.

It’s hard to say “no” to Jack’s pleading brown eyes. He demands virtually nothing from us and gives back a great deal. Depriving him of food, his #1 crave, seems mean, yet all those extra pounds are hurting him. I hope we can discipline ourselves to stick with it, and I hope he can get leaner.

None of us likes to be kept away from the things we crave. All we have to do is check bookstore shelves to know most of us aren’t good at denying ourselves, and it isn’t just food. We need help breaking the bonds of bad habits in all categories, anything we do that’s hurting us or those around us.

Jack’s extra weight came to him one unnoticeable ounce at a time, and that’s how all habits begin, with steady repetition of one small behavior. The encouraging thing is that good habits are also formed this way. Our cravings can be good ones, the kinds we can freely satisfy. How can we tell the difference? If our craving moves us closer to God rather than farther away, we can go for it.

My personal opinion is that Jack couldn’t get any more handsome, but who knows what a 20 pound drop might do for him.

“They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved.” (Psalm 78:18)

Flight of Fantasy

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Linnea and her family have lived in Florida for 8 years, 1200 long miles away from me. But it’s a lovely place to visit during a Midwestern winter, and because they live in the central part of the state, I got to fly into Orlando, an airport with many flight choices and good prices. My grandbaby is a week overdue today, and I’m thrilled to be part of the welcoming committee.

Orlando International is popular with families because of Disney World, destination of endless delights. And quite a few plane passengers begin their vacations the minute they board. Princess tiaras, Mickey Mouse ears, and “Cars” t-shirts abound, adding a playful atmosphere to basic air travel. Occasionally flight attendants will get in the spirit of things too, coaxing passengers to sing “M-I-C-K-E-Y…” and telling the kids how excited Cinderella is that they’ll be visiting her castle.

I remember my first trip to Disneyland in Anaheim, California (long before Disney World existed). It was the late 1950’s, and the much smaller theme park was big stuff to us. Entrance was under $2 (now $75), and our California cousins showed us a wonderful time.

Disneyland’s Main Street was lined with tantalizing shops that promised happiness with every purchase, and we begged our parents for Snow White toothbrushes and Tinkerbelle fairy dust. Leaving the park, our enthusiasm ran high for all things Disney. In the weeks that followed our California trip, however, other infatuations pushed Mickey and company to the back of our minds.

And that’s the thing. Out of sight often becomes out of mind, and not just for grade school kids.

We adults have the same problem. We might decide to read through the Bible in a year, then hit Leviticus and quit. Or maybe we attend a spiritual retreat and come away with 10 pounds of literature and a resolve to go deep with the Lord but then never empty our shopping bag. Or we become convicted during a sermon and promise to rout sin out of our lives, but after a few failures, we stop trying. Or we attempt to memorize Scripture but lose our zeal when the verses won’t stick.

Is it possible to maintain enthusiasm for something when we’d rather put it on the back burner? I think of Jesus, living a victorious life against tremendous odds and wonder how he accomplished it. Scripture gives the answer: he refused to stray very far from his Father. They partnered continually through prayer, sometimes all night long, and that collaboration was the key to his success.

Amazingly, we have the same option, not to be sinless, but to partner with the Father. Teaming with God is the key to successfully tussling with temptation, especially the temptation to quit trying. And if we turn away from him, the result is much like leaving Disneyland. Out of sight is out of mind.

The Father is out of sight, but may our partnership with him never be out of mind.

“Some people hear God’s Word “with enthusiasm, but the enthusiasm doesn’t go very deep. It’s only another fad, and the moment there’s trouble, it’s gone.” (Luke 8:11,13 The Message)