“For the wages of sin is death;”

 - Romans 6:23a

    A cookie seems harmless enough, doesn’t it?  I mean, after all, it’s something sweet, something yummy.

    Several weeks ago my wife and I, along with our little boy Jacob, were checking into a hotel when we spotted some complimentary cookies in a basket in the hotel lobby.

    Now, Jacob loves cookies.  (He gets that from me, I suppose   And a cookie sure sounded good at that particular moment in time.  (When doesn’t it?!)

    And those cookies looked good lying there in that basket.

    A moment later, we were chomping on a couple of those cookies, and, let me tell you, they sure tasted good as well!

    Then, less than fifteen minutes later, it happened.

    Jacob’s face started breaking out in a horrible rash.  He started whining and pulling at his neck.  His breathing became labored and his throat began to swell to the point that it was almost completely closed.

    He had a severe allergic reaction to one of the nuts hidden in that cookie!

   The cookie sounded good, looked good and tasted good … but, in the end, it poisoned Jacob.

   You know, that’s how sin is.  Satan makes it sound so good.  And it sure is attractive.  And, let’s be honest, it tastes good too. 
    But, there’s something hidden in there below the surface that we don’t see at first.  And when we take a bite, in the end, it poisons our lives.

    Jacob’s doing fine now, and we’ve gotten better at looking for things hidden inside his cookies.

    Lesson learned: sinning is just “nuts”!  In the end, sin poisons.

   Take a close look before taking a bite!