Just off I-75 South, somewhere around mile marker 138, is a large white cross made of metal, casting a shadow over a building marked with XXXs. It's an adult "entertainment" center, so to speak. On my way to spend the Christmas holiday with family, I passed by this particular spot around 2:45 on a Friday afternoon. The Friday two days before the celebration of the birth of the Savior who would free us from the destruction and devastation of the darkness of sin we love so much.
And the parking lot was PACKED.
I was absolutely revolted by the thought of all of those men crowding in this...place...in the middle of a weekday afternoon. In my mind I saw a guy staggering out of the door glassy-eyed from what he had just indulged in, feeling deceptively "satisfied". And I was disgusted.
And all of a sudden, it hit me. Or rather, he spoke, in His ever-gentle way. Every time I "indulge" myself or seek satisfaction in some thing (or sensation, or thought, or feeling) that is less than pure and primarily selfish, I'm just like that glassy-eyed guy who has gotten an eyeful and goes on his merry way, licking his chops over his lascivious thoughts. And I am as disgusting to God in that moment as the man in my imagination was to me.
It's humbling, really. And awe-inspiring. That the Creator of the Universe, the One true and living God who punishes all sin, would love such an adulteress as me. And call me clean.
Wow.
