I’M GLAD MOST PLACES SELL COKE!

Knowing me the way you do (I hope you read my Blogs regularly and feel as though you “know” me!) you are undoubtedly a little surprised to read this title, knowing that I am an avid, life-long drinker of PEPSI COLA! Well, the title does appear to be contradictory to what I should want, but I can dispel any confusion with one of Oscar Wilde’s most famous quotes, “I can resist anything except Temptation!”

And there you have it! When I go into an eatery to have a meal and ask, “What type of cola products do you serve?” and they reply, “Coke Products,” I let out a big sigh of relief, knowing that I am safe from violating my “4 ounces of cola a day” pledge. You see, if they say “Pepsi Products,” my palms become clammy, I break out in a cold sweat, my throat constricts and, with a trembling voice I invariably say, “Pepsi, please.”

I know you are probably thinking, “Why, Floyder, you don’t have a bit of will power at all!” And, while it may seem that way, you have to take into consideration that until about eighteen months ago it wouldn’t have mattered what type of cola product was being served, I would have ordered one and drank two!

Even though I don’t order the Coke it doesn’t mean that I’m not tempted to do so. It’s just that, well, I don’t want to be in violation of my self-proclaimed restriction for just any old cola! Now, the key here is not whether I drink a sodee pop or not, but, rather, how we contend with temptation.

First of all, and this is vitally important … There is nothing wrong with being tempted! All too often people feel guilty when they are tempted, regardless of what that temptation is! We know that being tempted is both normal and that, in being tempted, we have done nothing wrong! The reason we know this is because Jesus was tempted, and that did not detract from the fact that He was without sin. Ergo, being tempted, in itself, is not a sin!

For some people the concept of Temptation as a sin gets even worse, as they start feeling guilty that they were tempted! If you get mired in the guilt of temptation, imagine how devastated one might become if they actually do sin!

“Wait a minute, Floyder,” you might be a-thinking, “we should be devastated when we sin!” And to that I would say, “Au contraire, mon ami!” When we sin we should not be devastated, we should be repentant. You see, everyone sins, as Romans 3:23 tells us: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God!” Going back to the idea of suffering from guilt due to sin and/or temptation, the key is that once we have sinned and repented, we need to forget about it BECAUSE GOD DOES!

“Ohhhhhh, Floyder,” I can hear you gasp, “how can you even think that, let alone say it?” Trust me, I’m not being sacrilegious here! Rather, we are given this assurance by God in Hebrews 10:17 – “And their sins and inequities I will remember no more!” Pretty neat, huh?

Well, by now I am sure you have surmised that this Blog wasn’t about sodee pop at all! And, you would be right! The GOOD NEWS is that even when we sin, we don’t have to suffer from guilt, because God has removed our sin from us as far as the east is from the west! (Ps. 103:12) Still, I’M GLAD MOST PLACES SELL COKE!!!