Mini-Bar Syndrome

Staying in hotels are a fantasy land for me! I crave the lush beds and spacious luxury rooms with cable TV and indoor heated pools! Sometimes its just a great escape from regular life.

Oh but there is a great evil amongst all the wonderful amenities of hotel life. Its the mini-bar. Fully stocked with liquor (in nicer hotels), bottled water, unhealthy snacks that make your mouth water and all within arms reach. No need to go all the way to the ice machine down the hall to buy a soda or downstairs to the lobby to purchase a midnight snack; simply open the door of the mini-bar and take what you need.

The irony of the concession the mini-bar offers is the luring temptation it has as often times items sit out and appeal to your current desires. After that long day of walking, you get back to your room to find a tall clear bottle of Avian water sitting next to a delicious looking candy bar. Both promising to restore your energy and/or simply tickle and satisfy your appetite for a quick snack.
And should you give in to the desire, upon check-out your credit card and hotel bill will reflect the consequences of your indulgent behavior. That water you could have spent $3 for a case of 24 on now has cost you $8 for one bottle. And that pack of M & Ms that could have been 2 for $1 was the most expensive piece of chocolate you've ever eaten.

Sin is no different. Its luring temptation often strikes at the most opportune moments of weakness or desires. It appeals to our inner cravings and promises to fill us to satiety. Not long after we've given in, regret sets in as we begin to reap the consequences sin inevitably brings. Its' been said "Sin takes you further than you are willing to go, keeps you longer than you are willing to stay and costs more than you are willing to pay".

The Holy Spirit is the ONLY power strong enough to keep us from yielding to the mini-bar syndrome. Memorizing scripture and disciplining ourselves are great practices but those 'things' don't break our desire for sin, alone. We must couple those things with prayer that the Lord would curb our appetites from sin to pleasing Him. Then the mini-bar won't be as tempting.

You are who you attract!

What once began with "Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are", later became "a man is what he eats". (Anthelme Brillat-Savarin. Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach.)

What was meant was "the food one eats has a bearing on what one's state of mind and health are." In other words, the two are directly related. Sort of a cause and effect or domino effect if you will.

I contend the same is true of the statement "You are who you attract". Meaning 'the people you attract (both friendships and relationships) have a bearing on where your state of mind/heart are'

For a few years I judged my love for God by the things I most publicly did. The bible studies I facilitated, the sincere time I spent helping others, and the Christian events I attended. But if one took a magnifying glass to my relationships with the opposite sex, they would have found me fraternizing with men who were nothing like the God I claimed to love & teach about. One could say I was living quite the double life. Claiming to want a godly man (one who feared and served God) yet quick to contact the ones in my "black book" who could swoon me and secretly satisfy my lusts.

Upon reading a book, I began to wonder why I was attracting these "bugga-wolves" (I like to call them) and I quickly came to realize that it was me. Like attracts like. I attract sexual guys because I wanted to be sexual (lets keep it real). I wanted a pure man to desire me, but I didn't want (myself) to be pure; although deep down I thought I did.

Once I made a decision to starve myself from the ugly (yet natural desires I had) and lose myself in what God wanted for my life, godly men poured into my life for the following 10 years. Every man that pursued me (with an serious intent) was someone who was walking with the Lord and admired me (from a distance) because they saw the same in me.

As I look at my circle of friends, I can sincerely say that the people I keep closest are those who (aren't perfect) but strive to keep short accounts with God, seek accountability, serve others and want their lives to reflect Gods love to others. This has made my life very rich and overflowing as these women keep me sharp (in character). Furthermore, I don't have to hope for a godly man, I know one will find me 'gleaning in my field' (Ruth 2) someday.

Huck has a point!

 

"He controls me...he still controls me"
"He owns me, Liv, he owns me!"

The closing moments of Scandal's Season 3, Episode 3 were gut wrenching for most Gladiators as one of our favorite characters and seemingly stoic assassin breaks down in tears.

Who thought Huck could be controlled by something other than his innate desire to kill? But after watching this episode, we find out that the one man (Olivia's Dad) who is responsible for his need and ability to kill is the very one who has the power to steer Huck's wrath towards whatever target he so chooses.

Huck finds himself "owned" by another and out of a position of control over his own actions. And here we find this statuesque, meek, protector of a man frustrated at his slavery to another.

Oh, if only we would be as broken over the sin in our lives and the slavery it points to.
Romans 6 & 7 talk about this very struggle. How we, as believers, still have sin within us (the desire to sin) but we also have the nature of God (His Spirit) living within causing a tug-of-war (of sorts) between a desire to do what's right, and a strong itch to give in to our innate desire to do wrong. (Rom. 7:23-26)

Both passages describe our life before we invite Christ in: as slaves to sin. Under sin's control. Sin owns us!!!! I imagine us being like Huck, unable to escape our mental depravity or the 'army of evil desires' within us (James 4:1) and feeling frustrated to tears, in light of this!

But our situations doesn't have to be/end as bleak as Huck's did. Though we are (can be) slaves to whatever masters us, the good news is, we don't have to be! Paul so eloquently ends the 7th chapter of Romans by proudly stating, "Who can free us from this control? Thank God for Jesus Christ who delivers us!"