On a recent vacation to one of Alabama’s beautiful gulf beaches, Sharon and I were blissfully parked in our beach chairs watching the endless waves roll in.
A young man caught my attention about 20 feet down the shoreline. He was on a mission. He had spent a good part of the morning crafting a sandcastle, and it was quite a masterpiece. He had formed spires and windows, and even surrounded it with a moat. After admiring his creation for a while, he packed up his gear and left the beach.
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Several people stopped to admire the sandcastle. One actually took a photo. But eventually a little boy, whose parents apparently weren’t watching, approached the structure. He stared down at it with mischievous curiosity. Then he looked around to see if anybody was watching. You could just tell he was tempted to stomp it down. He knew it would be a naughty thing to do, but he just couldn’t resist.
Sure enough, after pondering his options for a moment, he jumped on the sandcastle and crushed it flat. Then he ran off, confident he had gotten away with something.
I couldn’t help but crack a smile. Boys will be boys.
But there was no doubt I was observing raw human nature in its purest form. We imperfect human beings are just too weak to resist temptation.
It gets more subtle as we get older, but we all too often crush the sandcastles of others by being insensitive, selfish, greedy and dishonest. It’s just too tempting to put ourselves first. We know it’s wrong, but we are overpowered by self.
Help!
We need help. We need Jesus.
God knew this. After all, He created us. That’s why Jesus instructed us in the Lord’s prayer, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matt. 6:13).
The source of all temptation is Satan. He is persuasive. He knows where you are vulnerable. You can’t beat him on your own.
Walking in God’s light can and will help you resist bad decisions and keep you morally solid. Like the old hymn says, “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is shifting sand.”
Especially if that sand is someone else’s castle.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Ken Lass is a retired Birmingham television news and sports anchor and an award-winning columnist for numerous publications and websites.
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