Sticky.

I am sitting here typing this with very sticky fingers due to an unfortunate french toast syrup incident. 

If there's one thing I hate more than wet socks, it's sticky fingers. 

I swear, no matter how many times you wash your hands, it's impossible to get the stickiness off.

And then, when you touch other things, those things get sticky too. 

I remember one time picking up a toy after my brother had played with it, and it was covered in syrup. So now he was sticky, the toy was sticky, and I was sticky.

Sin is sticky. 

It presents itself as something enticing and sweet, and then when you're in the thick of it, it starts to stick. And not only does it stick to you, it starts to stick to everything around you. 

And once it's stuck, it's hard to wash off. 

Obviously I'm not talking about in an eternal sense, because when you become a believer, all your sins are wiped away and covered by the blood of Jesus. 

I'm talking about how sin affects our present, earthly lives in a very real and dangerous way.

You cannot compartmentalize sin. 

Maybe not right away, but eventually, it will permeate every single area of your life. 

The devil does not care if you argue with your best friend. 

The devil cares that the arguing you're doing is causing you to think less about Jesus and more about your problems and situation. 

The goal of the enemy is to distract us, as believers, from the work we were put here to do.

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit." Matthew 26:19

When we allow sin to stick in our lives, we are allowing the devil to distract us from spreading the Good News. This is especially detrimental if we are in a place where a lot of our friends are not Christians. If you are partaking in sin in front of nonbelievers, you are hurting your witness for Christ. 

As Christians, we have an obligation to the furthering of the Kingdom to recognize sin in our life, repent of it, and continue seeking Christ. 

Otherwise sin may start in one area of your life, like gossip or slander in a friendship, and then slowly spread to the other areas of your life, killing everything in its path. 

If you are allowing gossip or bitterness in one part of your life, don't be so naive to believe that it won't affect every other part of your life too. 

That is the danger of sin, and why it's so important to recognize it's stickiness before we let it in to our lives. 

So, this week, before you get caught up in the sweetness that sin projects, remember the sticky residue it will leave in your heart and in your life.