The folly of the sinful nature

My son Victor is a bit of a night owl. Me bride and I are working on changing that, so that means keeping him awake and playing with him during the day so that he sleeps better at night. And you know, it sort of worked yesterday.

Sort of. Okay - it worked wonderfully, but it's just the first day and a new habit isn't formed in a day. But of note was what happened at 4:15 this morning, when Victor the Stubborn bug decided HE wanted to be awake, even after daddy had laid him down in his bassinet.

So, what did the boy do? He cried - loudly. And after around 3 or 4 minutes of letting him cry, daddy came and picked him up... and the boy fell right asleep. Why? Well, he had worn himself out crying. That defiant cry ended up turning around on him. That cry demanding that he get to stay awake became the very cause of him falling asleep so much more quickly than if he had just simply played in his bassinet.

Thus the folly of the sinful nature.

Think of times where you give into sin and temptation - do they not rebound upon you?

You lash out because you are frustrated by things in life... and all you do is tick off people who frustrate your life more.

You want to go and forget things... and then you have a headache to remember as well.

You want to live fun and care free... and your care free fun drops a bigger burden upon you (fines, a kid, hurt relationships, etc.).

My son Victor may someday gain the wisdom to learn that it is easier to do what his father wishes, to enjoy the freedom that dad wants (because actually, if he's quiet in his crib and let's his mommy sleep, dad would be content). But maybe not.

Of course, how long does it take us to learn that it is to our own benefit and good to beat down our sinful nature, to fight against temptations with all our might? Beat down temptation - beat it down.