Falling for the same trap

I tend to believe I am a fairly smart individual. I did well in school (hopefully that will follow me to seminary). I've been told I have an above average IQ (whatever that means). I like to do things that it seems smart people enjoy like reading books, even some without pictures. (Although right now I have to say that "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" is my favorite.) Despite my general intelligentiness (isn't making up words a sign of smartness?), I tend to repeat my mistakes - especially spiritual ones.

Recently a friend of my gave up dip. He said it had never been a sin to him, but God revealed to him that it was now. So he stopped. Cold Turkey. Hasn't looked back sense. He hasn't went through any type of withdraw symptoms, just a vague missing of the habit, which in itself presents its own set of temptations.

As we were talking about it recently, I warned him, "From personal experience, Satan is going to try to trip you up. He's going to bring up the fact that you aren't really 'addicted' to it. You can quit at any time, so why make a big deal of quitting. He's going to say, 'Is it really a sin to do it, when you aren't addicted to it and you've shown you can give it up whenever you feel like it.' As stupid as it sounds, it can be effective or at least it was on me."

Satan is like the fastball pitcher who doesn't really have any other pitch. The only problem is his fastball is so good that even when you know it's coming, you still swing and miss too often. Satan's "fastball" from the beginning has been "Did God really say...?"

If you're like me, as you're reading the Biblical account you are screaming at Eve, "Of course God said this was a sin. He just told you last chapter! Don't eat it. You have no idea how bad that apple will be!" Despite the wisdom I have for Eve, I fall for that same line over and over again.

There may be something that God has convicted me of in the past and has brought me out of it. But it doesn't take but just a few months (maybe weeks) for Satan to pop up and challenge what God has done. "Did God really say it was a sin? I mean there's no Bible verse that says it's a sin. This pastor said there was nothing wrong with it. Your friend does it all the time and God is blessing him. Did God really say it was a sin?" At this point in heaven, Eve is watching us thinking, "You moron, of course God said it was a sin. He just told you that last month."

When God reveals something as sin in your life, accept His word as final not only for that day, but for that day forward. I believe the vast majority (if not all) of the sin in our lives could be removed if we simply remembered what God has already told us. If God has told you something is a sin, hold fast to that - no matter how many fastballs Satan throws high and inside.

If none of this makes sense or is for some reason incoherent, I blame my sickness. I'm battling some type of allergy/cold/unknown gunk, so there's my poor writing excuse for the day.