Getting Away With It

You didn't think you could get away with that, did you?

I said these words while looking in the mirror after weighing myself this morning. Then I laughed, recalling what I ate yesterday while on a road trip with a fun loving most excellent friend. 

Bulbous noses, veiny and red; raisin wrinkly faces; circular midsections; slumped shoulders: the body gives us tell tale signs of the activities we engage in. Just when we think we may have gotten away with something, as in, drank too much over the years, causing the nose to become a beacon telling the world a person is an alcoholic; or perhaps an overly wrinkled face suggesting a person is a wine imbiber, or maybe someone's midsection extends out and away from the rest of their body, letting others know that eating is a past-time, or slumped shoulders as a give away that a backpack has been camel carried for year after heavy year, we realize, the body cannot tell a lie, cover up what we have done, or fake out the eyes of others. Now think, dear one, about sin ... You didn't think you could get away with that, did you?

Sin is insidious 

Sin is insidious. One tiny little sin may irk the sinner, cause them some pause after the fact, having them feel a little shame, regret, and even remorse, and this might be enough soulful stinging to stop them from repeating the offence. To use the body again as an example: One alcoholic drink may give a buzz to the brain, making the drinker desire another. If one is added to the next and the next, the day after may be a head hurting, stomach revolting mess. Becoming an alcoholic takes a lot of practice, with one binge event followed by many more, to get the drinkers tolerance up to the point where they can be a wreck, and still semi-function, or in some cases, fully-function, the next day. Rinse and repeat this methodology, for decades, and a Rudolph red and veiny nose may be the telltale result. 

I had some girlfriends years back that loved their wine, and could drink close to a bottle in one evening. Massive wine glasses were all the rage, and when I think about it, a 750 ml bottle of wine is only three glasses: polishing one of them off in one go would be an easy feat and become habitual, if one wasn't very carefully aware and mindful of consumption. Back then, my friend's faces had up and down, vertical wrinkles ... they had begun the transformation into resembling the dried version of grapes ... raisin like wrinkles lined their skin. 

Reversibility 

The battle of the bulge is a common one for rich and fast food societies. Yesterday I was able to drink a regular latte, eat rice crackers, pad tai, some chocolate, all while sitting comfortably on my duff, burning pretty much zero calories the whole day. In fact, I burned 37 calories and only took 1224 steps according to my phone tracker! Thus, my increased weight, and my accusatory look myself in the mirror comment, You didn't think you could get away with that, did you? Now the very good news, dear reader, is the reversibility of our outcomes: I will return to my healthy habits today, and that too, will be reflected in my weight, tomorrow. Course correcting affords us the opportunity to put an end to the progression of decline. We can choose differently, and when we do, our bodies show the results of our healthful activities.

 

Backpacks and electronics

I will address the slumped shoulders now, because we are seeing young children bending their necks and backs in unnatural ways that will eventually cause injury. Backpacks and electronic device usage are the culprits, and I must tell you that looking down at the ground with shoulders rounded forward, and heads dropped at strange angels, influences how a person feels about themself. Posture has a great impact on our sense of self-worth, and our young ones are not being told, shoulders back, head and chin up, look straight ahead, and this: look people in the eye. Adults very rarely greet one another in passing anymore, and children have taken to the same pattern, of seemingly not even noticing that others exist! I know some amazing children that have meet and greet attitudes, because their parents are gregarious and friendly, and this is how it ought to be, dear one. We must make an effort with one another, seeing each other and saying, Hello, Good Morning, Good Evening, Nice day ... something, to let one another know that we notice each other.  

When I think of sin, and how it runs interference in relationship, how it divides a couple, parents and their children, or whole groups from other groups, I see how calculated it is to affect, to destroy, to devastate. Sin as insidious sneaky serpentine slithering monster, creeps into thinking, sips from inky darkness, snakes from the tongue and next, poisons one, then two, then four and more with its venom. If this resonates as true for you, then perhaps it is time to address your own sin.

I did not shine flood lights on worldly sin, pointing an accusatory finger at those that love to take the stage in front of microphones. That fruit is hanging so low to the ground that it will drop and rot rapidly on its own ... I don't need to shout out what the wicked ones are doing daily to destroy themselves and their families; most of us see it already. I am looking at myself, and asking you to look at yourself too, because dear reader, we can't get away with our own sin, it is impossible. God sees all:

Am I a God near at hand, says the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him? says the LORD; Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the LORD (Jeremiah 23:23-24)

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to him. In this you have done foolishly, therefore from now on you shall have wars. Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at this time (2 Chronicles 16:9-10)

Sin is a separator

There are people whose hearts are loyal to God and when they sin, they can barely stand being in their own skin; when they repent, they ask God for the strength to sin no more. Then there are people like Asa that become angry when they hear they do not have God's favour, because they oppose him by indulging their lusty desire - this type of person will punish messengers, take out their rage by oppressing innocent people, and always be at war with God and men. 

Think now with me, about clinging to that sin of yours, and how it wreaks havoc in your relationships, how you would prefer to do dastardly deeds, rather than be close to people that admire, love, and want to intimately relate with you. Can you see how sin is a separator, from God and from godly relationships? 

Dear reader, none of us can get away with anything untoward. If you don't learn from humanities history books, I sure do hope that you learn from your own genealogical past and present. Sin is often a generational legacy, and if you don't stop it from being passed on to your next of kin, who, pray tell, will?