More than the taste of M&Ms compels me to use a quarter. The drive and the excitement come from the thrill of seeing how many M&Ms I will get each time, hoping for the magic number 9. This is my "scientific experiment". My excuse.
In the beginning I only glanced at the machine as I walked down the hallway. Then a longer look. Then longer. Pretty soon that looking gave way to getting. Now, no matter where I go, when I see an M&M machine the excitement wells up within. The thrill of continuing my quest for nine M&Ms.
I think of the M&M machine is an analogy of the sin and evil which pervades our lives and those around us. Sin and temptation begin with a look. Then a taste. Just to see what it’s like. Then a lie to yourself that this will be a one time thing. Then maybe nothing bad happens the first time, the second time, the hundredth time. However, gratification becomes harder to find. More extreme measures are taken to achieve the first few “highs”. The high of cheating on your spouse, abusing drugs or alcohol, domestic violence, cheating on a test, telling a lie, betraying a friend, telling a secret, sexual sins. Whatever the sin, Satan tries to trap us with one sin. If that doesn’t work he’ll try something else. Satan will pull us as deep in as we’ll go.
Evil searches for us. We must use the brain God blessed us with to realize and remember to run from temptation and keep ourselves from evil. Life is not about getting what we want and what feels good to us. Always remembering how our decisions and behavior affects those around us, from those we supposedly love to the stranger on the street should be our goal. Realizing those choices affect life not only here but in the ever after.
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