If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
Her name is Maggie, and she likes to serve. Our church has a ministry that involves a Fun Foods trailer filled with all kinds of good things…things like snow cones, popcorn and best of all—cotton candy. And while popcorn and snow cones are relatively safe, those brave enough to make cotton candy are going to get messy. Very messy. This past Saturday, our church took the trailer to a fall festival and soon we were set up and ready for business. When my wife Judy and I got there, Maggie was already making cotton candy, so we decided to join her team.
Maggie was the one actually running the machine, I was the one that opened the bags and held them open while she put the cotton candy in the bag and Judy was the one who put on the twist ties. We were quite the team but let’s be clear—Maggie was the cotton candy queen—clearly this was not her first rodeo. We soon settled into the groove, and we were slinging cotton candy left and right. I even got to go and be the front man and encourage people to have some. I kinda stretched the truth and told them it was sugar free, oh, and that their doctor said it was ok. I confessed later.
Like I said, we were slinging cotton candy left and right and it soon became apparent that so was the machine. When we started the process Maggie was clean as a whistle but the longer she worked, the pinker she became. Let me explain. We were making pink cotton candy and I quickly learned that cotton candy attracts cotton candy. If a little is stuck to you then very soon some more will stick to that little bit and that is what happened to Maggie. Well, before the shift was over Maggie was very pink. In fact, she was almost covered with a layer of sweet, pink hair. It was pretty amazing, and it taught me a valuable lesson—not about cotton candy but about sin.
You see, just like a little cotton candy stuck on you attracts and grabs more of the same, so it is with sin. When we allow a little sin to get stuck in our lives, if we are not careful, soon we can become a sin magnet. Sin attracts sin and while it was obvious with Maggie and the cotton candy—that is not always the case with sin. We need to learn to be alert—to keep an eye out—and when we spot something—have the wisdom to do something right there and then.
Well, in Maggie’s cotton candy world she didn’t have time to stop and remove the small pieces that stuck to her in the beginning, so she ended up pink. But when it comes to sin—take the time, make the time to solve the problem by removing the sin from your life. Trust me—that is one thing you won’t regret. It is easier to deal with a little sin than to allow it to stick around (no pun intended) and grow. If you need any help, God is always ready and willing to help us. In fact, He is the sin removing and forgiving expert. Just ask and He will be glad to help. He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne
Grits with Grace 