Wednesday, August 13, 2014

One Better Than Sneezing


Read: James 4:4-8


Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 
                                                                                                                    James 4:7


     Everyone loves a good sneeze – at least normal people do. It is hard to explain that fact, but the feeling you’re left with after you the blast of a good sneeze is one that is hard to compete with. I was discussing that wonderful feeling with some of my students a few weeks ago, and it gave me an idea. I suppose there is no feasible way to actually do it, but I thought about how wonderful it would be to bottle up the feeling you get from a sneeze and sell it. Can you imagine how much money could be made if there was a way to sell a bottled-up sneeze? Of course, to make it hygienic, it would have to go through a filtration process, but those are merely details that could easily be worked out. I’ll keep working on the process, but I think it would be a huge hit.
     Since there is no way to sell sneeze feelings (yet), I suppose I could tell you of a feeling that you can get as often as you like that does compare to it. While a sneeze is comforting to the physical body, this feeling is comforting to the soul, which puts it on a completely different level. The devil is constantly tempting young people to fall into any number of sins; he does not discriminate when it comes to whom he would like to see fall. I’m sure that at some point in your life you have resisted a temptation. Satan came to tell you what evil he had planned for you to do, and you turned your back on him and walked away. Do you remember how good that felt to win the victory? It was like dancing on the devil’s grave. He lost; you won; and it felt great! Best of all, because the devil is constantly tempting us to do wrong, you can experience that feeling any time you would like – and it’s free!
     Not everything we do in the Christian life finds its root in feelings. However, if God never wanted us to feel good about making right decisions, then He never would have created those feelings. As wonderful as it would be to be able to purchase a sneeze-feeling in a bottle, it’s time to start winning some battles over Satan and enjoying the feelings that result from those victories.


Quote of the day: “If you would not fall into sin, keep away from the brink of temptation.”





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