Poison Ivy

My grandmother lives on a lake in Tennessee and we go there to visit her usually a few times a year. This summer, I visited there with some of my extended family. As several of us were walking back to the lodge after swimming, my uncle pointed out a patch of poison ivy in the woods. One of my aunts was unfamiliar with its appearance and wanted to know what it looked like so that she could avoid it, and help her children to avoid it, in the future. I was thinking about this later and it occurred to me that we should treat sin in the same way. As we walk through this life, we should take note of sin and temptations - we should be familiar with the ways in which Satan works so that we might recognize them in the future and avoid them. Yet, just as we don’t trample through the poison ivy in order to familiarize ourselves with it, we don’t need to actually indulge in a certain sin to be able to recognize and avoid it. Sometimes, however, we only recognize the sin when we feel or see the effects of it; just as sometimes we only notice a patch of poison ivy after we have already walked through it and a rash has appeared on our skin. The difference is that sin’s effects are much more detrimental and long-lasting than those of poison ivy...and none of us are immune. So as careful as we are to avoid trampling through poison ivy, we should be so much more careful to avoid the path of sin and temptation. We should also endeavor to warn others about the appearance of sin and temptation, just as my uncle warned my aunt about poison ivy, so that they will not be ensnared in it either. Moreover, if we are truly sincere in our desire to avoid poison ivy, we must be vigilant and observant of where we walk at all times lest we should be distracted by our surroundings for a moment and step into a patch while unaware. It is the same with sin and temptation. We must be constantly watching for it, not growing overconfident, lazy, or complacent; for it is when we let down our guard that Satan is free to have his way with us.

Remember! Be knowledgeable! Share this knowledge with others! And be vigilant in your efforts to avoid sin!