To my Christian brothers and sisters,

When Jesus called us sheep, he wasn't kidding. Yesterday I heard a sermon that discussed how we all "run" from God at some point in our lives. The length of time varies. Sometimes it's for seasons, sometimes it's for years. I began to reflect upon my own life. We never begin straying from the Lord with the thought, "It is going to take me months and years to recover from this". We usually begin with "Let's see how this goes".

Like sheep, we fail to plan. We are easily distracted. Our attention spans can be so short. We are willing to follow anyone or anything without considering if they are trustworthy. We are fun seekers, pleasure seekers, adventure seekers. None of these things are terrible in a certain time and place. It is when we disallow time to plan and instead opt to let the current of sin take us where it pleases that we end up far off course.

If a sheep ventures into a river, the current is going to take it wherever it wants for however long it wants. The sheep will end up on an opposing bank, miles and miles off course and far away from where it intended to be.

Sin always takes you farther than you wanted to go, keeps you longer than you wanted to stay, and costs you more than you intended to pay. Satan wants nothing more than to see us unfulfilled, empty, and striving after the wind. Satan wants to hinder our growth and impact on others' lives as long as possible.

So next time you begin to think, "Let's see how this goes", take a pause and consider how long it could take you to return to the river bank that you started on. Think about how it is going to affect you and those around you for days, weeks, months, and years afterward. I once heard a teaching on sin. It went something like this.

Day one: I am walking along a path. I fall down into a pit. It is dark. I am scared. I am lonely. It takes me hours to find my way out into the sunlight.

Day two: I am walking along the same path. I fall down into the same pit. "How did I end up here again?" I ask myself. It still takes me hours to find my way out into the sunlight.

Day three: I am walking along the same path. I pretend not to see the pit. I fall into the same pit. It is just as dark as day one. I am scared. I am lonely. I claw my way out.

Day four: I am walking along the same path. I see the pit. I step around it. I continue along the path.

Day five: I decide to walk down a different path.

Remember what Jesus told us. "You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on the hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:13-16, ESV).

The light we carry is supposed to shine. The world will do anything to smother it and stomp it out. So instead of letting it be carried away by the current of sin, opt to avoid the river (or the path) altogether.

Moral of the story? We are not strong enough on our own to have one foot in the world and the other in God's will. It just doesn't work. Your light is diminished (if not extinguished), your moral compass is very confused, and your witness is compromised. To my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us beseech one another to not only combat sin in our lives but to avoid it altogether. Time is of the essence. The world is watching, and there are disciples to be made.