Caught Red-handed

This was Season's explanation to coloring her entire hand with a red marker: "It was an accident," which was then followed by a mound of supposedly repentful tears. But since she is five and we were in a good mood, her dad and I just laughed. In fact, Graham told her to color the other hand green so could play "Stop and Go" on the playground with the kids at school.
But how many times do we use the same silly excuse with God when our sins finally find us out. Except our excuses sound more like this: "Well, I only did it one time." or "I didn't think it would happen to me." or "That's not what I intended to happen," and so on and so on. We have a plethora of sorry explanations, but all we are saying is that our sins are somehow an accident and not our fault.
But just like Season who has always been tempted where markers are concerned--she loves to color outside the lines, far outside the lines--we too know where we are tempted and so does the devil. Satan wants to devour us(1 Peter 5:8) and we choose to give him a foothold(Eph. 4:27) And I'm not just talking about the obvious public sins. If I am tempted to sleep late and then forego devotion, rushing through my day trying to get everything done, yelling and getting mad at my kids because they are getting in my way. This is a sin just as is murder (obviously the consequences are different)and neither are an accident. God sees my choice to sleep rather than set Him as a priority. You might as well paint my hand red. Anytime He is not our focus and our own fleshly needs take precedence, it is sin and for the most part, I believe it is deliberate.
Don't put yourself in the way of temptation, whatever that looks like for you. Don't make excuses when you get caught. Instead fall at His feet, admit your sin with a truly repentful heart and turn from your wicked ways. Don't sit by yourself in a room full of markers with no lids. God will never laugh when we fail, when we knowingly choose to sin. No, because we have the Holy Spirit to lead us moment by moment and He knows the pain it took to wipe out our sin. He was beaten and bruised for our iniquity. I often wonder if He feels that pain still. I am always reminded of a saying I learned when I was in junior high: Sin, it takes you further than you ever intended to go, keeps you longer than you ever intended to stay, and costs you more than you ever intended to pay.

Jesus said "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

Confession

I am a thief. There. I said it. Or I was a thief for like five minutes. So does that still qualify as an official thief? That's what I was asking God anyway right after I grabbed my receipt and my buggy and noticed the two dollar and fifty cent cupcakes sitting there so innocently under my big honkin' purse. The cupcakes were for a good cause, my cousin's birthday, so doesn't that make it okay to just go ahead and slip quietly out the door without paying for them. After all, lol, I am a good person. That's what I thought as I held Grayson on my hip and stared sweetly straight into the eyes of the Wal-Mart lady standing at the exit checking receipts of people who ding when they walk out. I sailed right past the dinger thinking how easy it is for a smiling mom with cute kids to steal. Unfortunately for the devil in me, I had promised Season we would rent a movie at the Redbox machine right outside the door. So, I had to stop, which meant I had time to think (stupid conscience!) I tried to bargain with God. "I'll pay for them next time!" "I mean, it's not as if I had the intention to steal them when I picked them up. It was a sheer oversight. An innocent accident." "The lines! God the lines are soooooo loooong!" Anyway, that's kind of how it went during the few minutes that it took to rent Underdog. I really just did not want to go back into that stressful moneyhole. It took me hours just to find the shortest check-out, which just so happened to be the self check-out, which, let's be honest, usually takes longer. There is a definite technique to the scanning. One that's not so easy to perfect with the help of two-year-old. Anyway, I did. Go back in. I left my basket outside and told the Wal-Mart exit greeter lady that I "forgot" to pay for the cupcakes. Luckily, God smiled on me and I didn't even have to wait in line. I went back in because I stopped. I stopped long enough to consult with God. Pausing is good. Think before you leap. Oh wait it's look before you leap. I took time to think about what my actions revealed and how they would affect me. Would the effects of stealing two dollar cupcakes be massive? Not outwardly, but I knew, for me, I wouldn't be able to get away from it. Every time I faced God, I would be reminded of my internal ugliness. oh wait. That happens anyway. I'm beginning to ramble. What I am trying to say is I'm a sinner saved by grace. I'm ugly. I'm a thief. Thank God he replaces my ashes with His beauty.

BTW-I didn't even eat a bite of the stupid cupcakes. But I took a moment to pose with the instigators, just in case you were beginning to think that I am not a dork.