All for Nothing...

Sometimes babysitting is something like parenting...though most of the time I feel like an older sister with two naughty siblings...and I am their bad example.
The other day, Hannah wanted a plastic box to put some of her "supplies" in, and as is always the case, Alyssa wanted it too, and had in fact already received permission from me to use it. What ensued thereafter required me to give Hannah some alone time in my room and then afterward we had a very serious talk. This talk evolved into a discussion of idols of the heart and what something becomes if we are willing to sin for it. I wasn't sure if she heard or even understood all of what I told her; but the next day when the girls arrived, Alyssa was bearing her own supply box and told Hannah she may use the one which had caused all the fuss the previous day. After trying to fit all of her markers and balloons into it, she discovered that it was too small for what she wanted it for, and exclaimed "I sinned over this for nothing!" Trying not to explode with laughter, I made some comment to the effect that sin never gets us where we think it will, even when we in the short term seem to get what we want from it--gratified that she had at least understood part of the previous day's discussion.
But then I got thinking about her comment. It really was enlightening to me even about my own heart--do I ever think that sin is somehow "worthwhile" because I get what I want out of it? The sad answer is that often I do, mistaking the miserable trash and rags of this life for treasures that I greedily grab for, allowing them to blind me to the real, great, and immeasureable treasure of blamelessness before a holy God. When I stand before Him at the end of my life, I pray by His grace that there will be few times I will look back on with remorse and exclaim "I sinned for nothing!" knowing that anytime I deem anything at all more precious than His will and His commands, it will never yield anything but sorrow.