Josiah Road

Would You Like That Crispy?

posted by Daniel Blackaby 2Jun

The warmth of the bright sun rays bathed my body, as the gentle sound of waves crashing inched me closer into the world of dreams. I had never been to Myrtle Beach before, but as I lay upon its soft sandy shore, I began to wonder how I had lived so long without experiencing this heavenly oasis. Closing my eyes I thought: Can life get any better than this? Perhaps not – but as I awoke the next morning I discovered – it could get worse.

I had gone to bed that night feeling energized and satisfied. Growing up enduring the epic-long winters on the western plains of Canada, my pale skin had been long deprived of sunlight. As I walked upon the beach I vowed to make up for lost time. So when my mother handed me the bottle of sunscreen, I quickly handed it back, “thanks mom… but no thanks. I don’t want anything standing between this body and a quick tan! Besides, I never burn!” When I crawled into bed that night, I dreamed of the bronzed body I soon would be sporting. Comfortably I drifted into sleep, excited to hit the beach again the next day.

“AHHH!” A sharp, burning jolt of pain raced through my body. Opening my eyes I tried to sit up, but my body ached from head to toe. I felt like a linebacker with an attitude had just flattened me, and then proceeded to cover my mangled body with boiling lava. Removing my covers, I realized that it wouldn’t take Sherlock Holmes to uncover the reason for my pain. My skin looked as if a lobster had just bathed in tomato paste. There wasn’t a faction of an inch of my body that wasn’t beaming bright red. Even my fingernails felt warm. Just then my sister walked into the room, and in-between muffled snickering she managed to say, “wow… good thing you never burn right?”

I learned two lessons from experience. First: wear sunscreen. However, the second one came as I finished off my second jumbo bottle of Aloe-Vera lotion. I was struck with the similarities of my experience and that of being exposed to sin. Regardless of the sin, perhaps questionable movies, friendships, habits etc., God warns us to be wary of spending too much time in these situations. Like my burn, the consequences are not visible at first, but slowly the experiences are burning deeper and deeper into our soul. There’s the old cliche, “garbage in, garbage out” – no Christian, strong or weak, is immune to the effects of sin. As Christians we are called to engage the world, however sometimes maybe it is wiser to follow Joseph’s example and flee (1 Cor. 10:13). I encourage you to be careful about spending too much time being exposed to sin and its effects. You may assume it doesn’t affect you. But you are wrong. Oh, and if you’re planning on going to the beach this summer, don’t forget the sunscreen – trust me.

1 Cor. 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.