Lessons I learned from a cactus

I have a cactus plant that was given to me when we lived on our farm. Yes, there is a variety of cactus that survives the Minnesota winters. It looks like it is completely dead in the winter and then in the spring, it starts to turn green again.

When I first got the plant, my oldest daughter was about 1 1/2 years old. I specifically told her not to touch the plant because it had "prickers". Later I noticed that she was walking around the yard with her arms away from her body and her fingers spread wide apart, like a scarecrow. She wasn't crying, but I knew right away what she had done. Thinking that I would find the remains or damage of the large needles, I came to find what seemed like thousands of small, thread-like needles all over her hands. They didn't hurt unless they were disturbed by fingers touching one another, so she had every appendage apart to avoid it. It took a long time to get all of them out. I later found the cactus had been pulled out and was laying on the lawn.

When we moved to our new location, I took the cactus with. It was in a pot as its temporary home, but it still burst with beautiful yellow flowers. Of course my daughter had to pick one and we had to deal with the small needles again.

This last weekend, I finally got it planted in it's new home. I had gloves on and thought I was quite protected, but alas, I had tiny "prickers" all over my dress that still got to my skin somehow whenever I moved my arms next to my body. Thankfully, the person that gave me this cactus also gave me a tweezers with a magnifying glass. I don't think that the gifts were given at the same time, but they are a combo all the same.

Sin is like this. You see something that appears beautiful and harmless. You decide to touch it, or pick the flowers.

You think that you can avoid, or deal with the pain of the obvious large "prickers",
-speeding ticket
-an overly tight budget that week for buying that 'one' thing that you've been wanting for so long without consulting your spouse

for the anticipation of the greater delight of the moment.
-getting the destination on time despite your lack of time management
-finally having that item.

The problem is, now you have to deal with the tiny needles that you never anticipated and are nearly impossible to get rid of and seem to keep coming back.
-guilt for knowing that you were not obeying the Lord by not obeying the laws of the land
-having a harder time controling impulses next time "you were able to do it last time, maybe you can do it again"
-possibly having to deal with the after effects of an accident or the fear of a near-accident
-the poor example that you were to your children
-having to apologize to your spouse for spending more than in the budget
-maybe having to return the item
-having to earn trust back from your spouse

Sin isn't worth it. It really isn't.