I have often use speeding as an analogy to illustrate how sin works in our lives. The speed limit is 65 and we may follow it for awhile but when everybody starts passing us we decide we need to speed up. Maybe a couple miles at first, but it only increases the more we get away with it.

We rationalize, everybody else is doing it. It’s only a couple of miles over. One of my favorite excuses is, just trying to keep up with the flow of traffic. Try to explain that one to the officer as he is writing you a ticket. We try to justify everything. That is human nature.

Sin works the same way, but on top of human nature we have help from the devil to justify. Sin takes over your life a little bit at a time. The devil finds a weakness and worms his way in. Pretty soon sin has taken over your whole life and in my case you find yourself sitting in a jail cell 750 miles from home.

While in the prison in OKC I worked in the kitchen. It was common to see other inmates take food, hide it on their bodies and take it back to their cells. Once back to their cells they would either eat or sell the stolen goods to other inmates.
After three months of drinking water I decided it was time for a change. I thought I would take a packet of Kool-Aid from the kitchen back to my cell to mix with my water. The devil would help me rationalize it. You should not be in this dump anyway. Everybody else is doing it. What’s it going to hurt? Give an inch take a mile.

As I began to leave the cafeteria with Kool-Aid in my pocket I felt a knot in my stomach. Thank God the Holy Spirit spoke up and asked me, “Isn’t this how it all started?” Suddenly it was made clear to me this was the same thought process that led me to prison. This left me embarrassed and ashamed before God.

Immediately I asked for forgiveness, threw away the Kool-Aid and headed back to my cell. The thought of taking anything never occurred to me again. So please remember if you are given an inch take the inch and be grateful. Don’t try to stretch it to a mile, because you are only asking for trouble.

Speaking of giving. Happy mother’s day to those ladies who give so much. I would especially like to thank my mother for giving me my Faith and my wife for giving me another chance to get it right.