COSTCO

Every week we do a Costco run for the church.  It’s a major task that requires 4 of us.  My job is the same every week, I push one of the large carts.  As it gets packed on with everything from cases of water to boxes of plastic forks to large bags of tortilla chips, it gets harder and harder to maneuver.  Every so often someone will pull out in front of me:  a cart, a person, or a small child.  And I have to stop the momentum of the cart or swerve.  I often think how these carts need signal lights or horns.

On one of these trips, as I was pushing the cart, for one second I let go of control of the cart, mid push.  I expected it to simply roll forward.  It didn’t.  By itself it swerved to the left as if I was pushing “under the influence”.  Thank God there was no one there.  But what was there was a case of Coke.  The edge of my weighted down cart slammed into the case piercing a can.  That can exploded, squirting carbonated high fructose corn syrup all in my face and clothing.  You can’t walk away all cool and gangster-like when something like that happens.  I needed windshield wipers for my glasses.

One moment of miscalculation, one moment of misjudgment and I made a mess.  We don’t realize how often one moment of error, one moment being inattentive can affect so much.  There’s a lot of power in a moment of negligence.

That’s why Paul warns us:  ¹⁵ Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise,¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Ephesians 5:15-17 (NIV)

It’s interesting how in one moment of weakness, great men/women can be brought down:   
   -Adam and Eve:  One moment of eating fruit and they doomed mankind…
   -King David:  One moment of strolling on the roof snowballs into adultery, pregnancy, murder and a cover up…
   -Abraham:  One moment of trying to save his own skin he allows another man to walk away with his wife…
   -Sarah:  One moment of try to “help God out” she allows her husband to sleep with another woman then hates her for it…

One unguarded moment can lead to a lot of regret.  So, guard your moments!

Genesis tells us:  ⁶ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? ⁷ If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” Genesis 4:6-7 (NIV)

Cain found himself in a very significant moment in his life.  Would he use that moment to do right or to do wrong?  A couple of lessons we can pull from this passage:

#1. EMOTIONS AFFECT DECISIONS

⁶ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?

The problem was that Cain’s emotions were out of whack.  I’ve come to realize that it’s a lot easier for me to make bad decisions when I’m being clouded by negative emotions.  Example:  It’s when I’m the most tired that the enemy attacks.  He knows my defenses are weak and easily breached. 

#2. SIN IS ALWAYS CLOSE BY

⁷ But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door…

Sin is always looking for an opportunity to pounce.  There’s no downtime, no weekends, nor vacations for sin.  Sin’s invitation, AKA temptation, is always looking for way in.  That’s why Peter, a man who’d welcomed one of those invitations the evening Jesus was arrested, tells us:   ⁸ Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 1 Peter 5:8 (NKJV)

#3. SIN HAS A PLAN FOR YOU

⁷ …it desires to have you…

Sin’s plan for you is your destruction.  I’ve heard it said: “Sin will always take you farther than you wanted to go, keep you longer than you wanted to stay, and cost you more than you intended to pay.”

#4. SIN CAN BE DEFEATED WITH THE RIGHT MASTER
⁷ …you must rule over it.
I read this morning:  We prevent sin from ruling over us by allowing God to master us first. Without God as our master, we will be slaves to sin.