Sugar or Fruit
American’s love our sweets. I think the only country that loves sweets more is India. Do
you know why we like sweets? Because our bodies know that sweet equals fruit, and fruit is
good for you. What our bodies don’t know is that candy isn’t fruit! It is a quick, easy substitute
to the real thing. And that is what sin is: a quick, easy substitute.
In fact, if you look at any sin, you will find at the bottom a desire for something good that
has been twisted and warped until it is unrecognizable. Evil is not the opposite of good. It is a
perversion of it. After all, what is gluttony if not the overeating of food that is good for you?
What is fornication if not the misuse of physical intimacy which God created? What is gossip if
not the search for acceptance the wrong way?
We are a microwave culture. We like it fast, easy and cheap. Well, sin is generally fast,
usually easy and often cheap. You can make friends quickly by mocking someone else but they
won’t love you in the end. You can motivate a group of people quickly by making them afraid
but eventually the fear will wear off. You can fulfill any desire God gave us quickly and easily
by sinning, instead of working for it the way God intended but it will never fulfill you the way
you want.
We use pornography instead of emotional intimacy. We use drugs instead of real joy.
We use possessions instead of true purpose. We use excitement instead of sacrifice. Instead of
loving God and loving others, and all that such activity entails, we live selfishly.
The result? Just like eating sugar instead of fruit, you destroy yourself. Broken homes,
broken hearts, broken lives all because we insist on taking the easy route.
Many people think God designed us with evil desires to test us. That’s a load of bologna!
God designed you with good desires. It is our sinful nature that tempts us down the quick and
easy path, the path that leads to destruction. The desire is good, but we try to fulfill it our own
way. Like a two-year-old who insists on trying to move a couch instead of going around it, we
attempt the impossible with God all the while saying “I know a better way”.
Rejecting Jesus is the same thing. People often reject Jesus because they don’t want
anyone “saving” them. They want to save themselves. Like that two-year-old, they are trying
with all their might but to no avail. Others reject Jesus because they don’t want Him telling them
what to do. Again, it is the two-year-old insisting on their own way.
In the end, the pain, suffering and horror of this world exists because of people doing it
their own way. In fact, billions are going to hell for the same reason. Don’t do that! First, let
Him save you through His grace and Jesus’ blood. Second, stop trying to live your own way.
Give up what God says you shouldn’t have. Start doing what God says you should. Why? Not
because He will punish you if you don’t, but you will punish yourself.
Don’t take the easy route. Trust God’s wisdom. He made you. He ought to know what
is good for you. Let Him guide your life and behavior and watch it slowly improve. Let Him
save you with His love and grace through Jesus, and if nothing else, you will spend eternity in
heaven with Him.