Sitting There Trying Not To Sin...

I was eating in a restaurant eating with some fellow pastors not long ago. I was seated looking at the entrance. While there, a couple entered who were obviously riding a motorcycle. They were both dressed in leather and taking off headbands as the waitress approached them to seat them. They began to take off their jackets where I was absolutely shocked. The female of the couple was wearing an incredibly revealing top. I don't mean to be too descriptive, but I do see it valid to try to paint you an accurate picture.

The top was strapless, low cut, and had a large split in the center. It was held together with a small leather strip that wrapped around her rib cage. Think leather tube top with a cleavage cut. Now, to add to this attire, she was rather....um....well, lets say she was not lacking in the bust area. She was a very attractive woman all the way around.

I immediately (well, as soon as I could) looked down at my plate. Nothing on my plate to stare at, I had already finished eating. I glanced back up, still there, but jacket all the way off now. Yeah, that helps. It seemed like they were waiting forever. So there I was, looking at my empty plate while everyone else talked. I was just sitting there trying not to sin. Finally, the waitress seated them... behind me. THANK YOU JESUS!

Now, this is the sad part, but I always want to be honest. I wanted to look behind me to see her again. UGH! Are you kidding me! Why? Why was I so drawn to her? I am happily married, I have no desire to cheat on my wife. I love Jesus with all my heart, I don't want to sin. So what was it that made me want to look again? I prayed, "Oh God, please give me strength."

Sin looks good, but ultimately sin is destructive. In Hebrews 11, Paul writes about the "short lived pleasure of sin." That's exactly what it is. Take the example above. I could have given in and looked on this unknown woman with lust, but it could have ended in a fight with her partner, a divorce with my wife, and the ruining of my testimony as a pastor. But I can not deny the fact that I wanted to look again. Sin looks good, but it is very short lived.

So I just sat there and tried not to sin. And God delivered me. Soon we got up and left and I refused to allow myself to look again lest the thought be fully conceived as sin. That's the best thing about it. When we call out to Jesus and put our trust in Him in order that He may be praised higher than what we want, He delivers us.

In Christ,
jon walton