I baked my way through the lockdown.
I baked whatever caught my fancy on the Internet. Scones and muffins, cookies and cakes, biscuits and cornbread, you name it. My husband worked from home a large part of last year and he oohed and aahed at each of my successes in the kitchen.
Every time I saw the number on the scale creeping up, I consoled myself saying cookies (or whatever I was baking that week) were worth the weight gain. I did not feel too stressed. It’s fine, I thought to myself, I can always lose it when I want to. If I decide to, I can start tomorrow. But tomorrow got pushed back to the next day, the next day became the next week and weeks turned into months. All the while, I was feeding my body with more sugar than I could justify.
Needless to say, I had to pay a price. The pounds piled on beyond what I thought was possible. I was out of breath after climbing a few stairs, I felt lethargic all the time and was getting irritated if I couldn’t find something sweet to nibble on.
As I resolved to lose weight as the New Year came into sight, I found that it wasn’t so easy to lose the pounds that I had so easily piled on. My decision to get back into shape didn’t seem to be as straight-forward as I thought. I grew increasingly upset and worried that it might be a long road to a normal BMI. I tried to eat healthily and responsibly but that proved to be difficult after having trained my tongue to eat only hyper-palatable foods for such a long while. I did not enjoy the vegetables I forced myself to eat and found that It was far more difficult than I thought it would be.
I regretted how consistently I had given in to my cravings to eat something completely unsupportive to maintain good health. The long road back to good health was no doubt possible but I realized that it would be an uphill climb – I had to train my tongue, body, and mind to choose healthy foods. I had to remind myself constantly that my body was the temple of God and that I had no business treating it so thoughtlessly.
Is this not how many of us treat our salvation? Do we not take it for granted time and again?
We find ourselves scrolling through social media, something comes up that we know we ought not to see, but we ignore that inner Voice and watch it. Maybe it was just a couple of seconds. But in those seconds, we savoured the sin over our salvation.
We get into a verbal disagreement with someone. It quickly escalates into a war of words. Something they say wounds us. We have the perfect retort that will hit them where it hurts. And then there’s that Voice again. Don’t say it, the Voice says.
Just this one time, we justify. They started it. I was much nicer than they were. I have nothing to apologise for, we think as we lie awake in bed that night.
Don’t post that photo on social media, the Voice says. It’s inappropriate.
But I look so good in it, we retort. If someone views my picture inappropriately, they need to work on that with God. Surely that can’t be my problem.
Savouring little sins is a dangerous thing, friend.
Slowly. One justification after another, the Voice grows quieter and quieter. I relish my sins a little more each time. Each time the pushback is fainter. Somewhere in the back of our mind, we know we are travelling on a dangerous path. We know that nothing good can come out of this. But we wait to repent. Why repent right away when I am having so much fun? I can always go back to God. And once I do, I don’t know if I can post that photo of me, fling those cutting words, or watch that video ever again. So before I go back, let me have just a little more fun.
Savouring little sins in a dangerous thing, friend. It slowly dulls our sensitivity to the seriousness of sin and sits as a deadweight upon our shoulders on the journey to becoming more like Christ.
Sin does not limit itself to the boundary we assume we have set for it. It is never content with the damage that it incurs upon our soul. It is a restless evil – always growing and making way for Satan’s foothold in the believer’s life. James 1:15 reads, “Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death.” Unless we invite the Lord to do thorough work on our hearts, there will always be something alluring about sin. It will always seem “good”, “desirable” and “pleasing to the eye” – just like it did for Eve in the garden.
Dear friend, is there something in your life that the Lord has been convicting you to let go of? It might be something so large that you are carrying a heavy load of guilt, something so small; you assume it’s insignificant, or something in between. Whatever it may be, it would serve you well to let it go. Mercilessly “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you” (Colossians 3:5).
God is a loving Father. He will not demand from us more than we can produce. In times when obedience seems hard and goes against every fiber of our being, His grace will prove to be sufficient for us. When we submit in humility and ask God for the grace to submit to His will, He is faithful and kind to lead us to it.
Careful not to play with the fire of sin, friend. If the Lord has placed on your heart to let go of something, let it go. Relinquish it whole-heartedly and with confidence. Do not look round looking for excuses, loopholes and justification. Others might get along just fine with the very same thing that the Lord has called you to let go and repent of. Do not be deceived into believing that if it is acceptable for them to live with the sin that the Lord is convicting you of, it will be for you too. “Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (James 4:17).
In the words of Charles Spurgeon, “Christian, what hast thou to do with sin? Hath it not cost thee enough already? Burnt child, wilt thou play with the fire? What! when thou hast already been between the jaws of the lion, wilt thou step a second time into his den? Hast thou not had enough of the old serpent? Did he not poison all thy veins once, and wilt thou play upon the hole of the asp, and put thy hand upon the cockatrice’s den a second time?… Christians can never sin cheaply; they pay a heavy price for iniquity. Transgression destroys peace of mind, obscures fellowship with Jesus, hinders prayer, brings darkness over the soul; therefore be not the serf and bondman of sin. There is yet a higher argument: each time you “serve sin” you have “crucified the Lord afresh, and put Him to an open shame”.
Let us be wary of becoming complacent in the ways in which we skirt around the issues that the Lord brings to our attention. Instead, let our hearts cry out “Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression” (Psalm 19:13). Let us yearn to be like Jesus who “loved righteousness and hated wickedness” (Hebrews 1: 9). May God give us the grace to let go and trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding. May we acknowledge Him in all of our ways and He will make our paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).
17 comments
Hi there,
I enjoyed reading through your post and thought that you made some really great points. The path to walk in sin can be such a slippery slope because sometimes it starts out so small. But praise God for His ever faithful grace and love that speaks truth to our hearts and gives us victory over sin! Thank you for sharing.
I like how you used the example and compared it to letting sin creep into our lives. It made it very clear and will help my remember. I went to my regular check up recently and my doctor called it the COVID 10 weight, lol. We are currently dieting to get rid of that sickness to lol.
Amen! “Savoring little sins is a dangerous thing,” I am going to write this phrase in my journal and go back to it when I am tempted. Such a great word of truth. Thank you!
What a good topic & so important to remind ourselves of the severity of sin.
Great thoughts! Thank you for reminding us about the seriousness of sin. When we don’t see any immediate consequences it’s easy to continue in the same way. Love the Charles Spurgeon quote.
Such a good reminder that indulging in “small” sins relaxes our boundaries so that we aren’t as troubled the next time sin beckons us over the line. God is a good Father and will help us set and uphold healthy margins that protect us. Thanks for this beautiful reminder!
Evangeline, Thank you for this much needed encouragement for us to avoid treating sin lightly. This is not something we hear about so much, even in our Christian culture.
Isn’t that just like the nature of sin? A little here, a little there, until it adds up just like the pounds on the scale. Thank you for sharing your struggle with us. I daily face my struggles as well. Training our bodies and minds to honor God is difficult but worth the effort.
[…] this happens, and I find myself savouring my sin, I quickly trace my way back to my old habits – habits that were supposed to be crucified to […]
“But in those seconds, we savoured the sin over our salvation.”
Wow, very convicting and makes one think. I need to pay attention to what I am entertaining, a little leaven can ruin the entire loaf!
I love this analogy, thanks for being so open and honest. A great prompt to help us get past being complacent. Thanks for sharing.
Hi There,
I’m personally uplifted by this story and challenge. Thank you for wiying
Umm this is such and incredible post. Especially the line “ Savouring little sins is a dangerous thing, friend.” What a powerful reminder!!
So good. It’s easy to let a little bit of sin creep in, but little or a lot, it damages our connection to God and our witness in the world. We need to get rid of it!
The path of sin can be a really subtle and slippery slope that if not careful one could get destroyed beyond redemption. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for making me reflect on those little sins in my life that have turned into habits. With Christ’s help, I’ll be getting rid of them one by one!
Thank you so much for the reminder, I think this is a message so many people are reminded of especially with everything that happening today. Very encouraging, thank you.
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