A motel next to an In-N-Out Burger? That was where we stayed in Modesto. For In-N-Out burger-lovers living in a state that has no In-N-Out Burger (Idaho), this was a recipe for diet-disaster. We did, however, restrain ourselves and only ate there twice. It sure was tempting to eat there more often though. I felt like Pavlov’s dogs. Every time we entered and exited the hotel parking lot that bright yellow arrow on the In-N-Out Burger sign made me salivate.
Our children booked this hotel for us. I think they picked this one because they know just how much I like In-N-Out burgers. If there is one close to where I’m at, that’s where you will find me whenever I get a craving for a burger or fries. That reminded me of part of the verse that opens Hebrews 12. “…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us ….” [NKJV]
I always joke that the “sin that so easily gets us” … gets us so easily because it always knows where to find us. We get pretty adept at locating ourselves close to temptation. It’s like staying in the hotel next to the In-N-Out. We don’t have far to go to get there.
I would have been far less tempted to blow my diet had our motel been across town where I could not see that bright yellow arrow. Spiritually, we need to also put some distance between our “souls” and those “places” where we are tempted to sin, where sin hardly has to make any effort to ensnare us and draw us in.
Heb 12:1: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” [NIV]
