Cutting Corners

It started out as a rationalization, an explanation, a little recreating of the truth so I wouldn't look so bad. It wasn't that big of a deal, really. Just a little fudging. God forgives everything anyway, right? And besides, He would understand why I needed to keep that mistake a secret or hide those items from snooping eyes.

But, the choices to use little exaggerations or hidden truths started turning into a pattern of speech. Lies became easier to tell and harder to catch before they escaped my lips. That's when I read the story of Cain and Abel with fresh eyes.

Genesis 4:7 "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if

you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have

you, but you must master it."

Cain's "sin" always used to puzzle me because it didn't seem like he really did anything wrong. He gave a sacrifice to the Lord just like his brother did, so why was God displeased with him? He wasn't being outright disobedient or breaking the rules; he was really just cutting corners, sliding in at the last second with the right answer.

And God made a big, BIG deal out of that.

Why?

God knows the human heart better than any psychologist or sociologist. He knows that a little adjustment on His expectations opens the door a crack to let sin in and then that crack in the door widens until sin begins to settle into our hearts and take control.

A little white lie is a step toward the path of compulsive lying.

A glance at the scrambled pornography opens the door to unclean thinking.

An inappropriate TV program leads to an acceptance of immoral behavior.

Our thinking becomes muddled by the world and pretty soon our behavior follows suit with little choices in our everyday lives. Those seemingly little choices add up and before we realize it, we don't see black as black anymore or white as white, because the world has turned grey.

It doesn't happen overnight, but over the course of years and through the daily small decisions that we make - to be 100% devoted to God's ways or to cut corners and give a piece of ourselves to sin.

As my little four year old likes to sing, "Oh be careful little eyes what you see...for the Father up above is looking down in love, so be careful little eyes what you see."

Thoughts to Ponder:

1. What "corners" have you been cutting lately? White lies, tv viewing, emotional relationships with the opposite sex, harsh words with your children...

2. Talk honestly, being brutally open with God and tell Him you are done with giving Him your second best and you're ready to give Him your all.

Following Him,