God's chosen bonehead

You never forget your first car. Unless your parents were loaded and really loved you, you saved your hard-earned cash and bought a vehicle that was ... well ... affordable. Mine was a 1988 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. It was 12 years old when I bought it and had an odometer reading easily in the six figures, but it was mine. One of the peculiar quirks it had was the steering liked to pull to the right. So unless I was on it, the car would drift lazily toward the ditch. Thankfully, I never took it off-roading in that manner.

It kind of reminds me of me. We entered this world with an inborn desire to sin, i.e. head toward destruction. There are plenty of folks who will argue that human nature is inherently good, and I respect that opinion, but how many of us needed instructions on how to do wrong? I know I didn't.

It's frustrating when falling into sin is easier than falling off a horse. Even when I'm gung-ho for God, the enemy usually has me in the crosshairs. And I'm a target easier than a brick wall. Sometimes, I think God lets me screw up to remind me how close I am to the ditch (not that I have a scripture reference for that, so I can only speculate). What I do know is we need to stay plugged into Christ and his word. It says in John 15:5, "Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing."

In the past, my instinct when stumbling with sin was to run away from God. It's consistent with what happened in Genesis 3:8-9, "So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, 'Where are you?' " Soon after hiding, God usually finds us, but it's after feeling shame and awkwardness in failing him. What happens at that point is up to us. Do we continue to hide, or do we come out and confess our sins? Do we make a life change, or do we continue to stumble? Today, I'm going to confess and turn from my sins. After all, the ditch isn't a fun place to end up.