I don’t know about y’all, but my Mama could cook.  She made not only wonderful meals, but she made fantastic desserts.  One that she used to make us was a chocolate eclair dessert.  I thought I would attempt to make one for my family. So, I got all the ingredients together & set out to fix it like Mama would.  There was, however,  a certain ingredient, that I had not used before.  It was Baker’s unsweetened chocolate bars.  When it got to the part to melt those babies up, I was gettin’ all happy & excited.  I had a big ‘ol smile on my face.  Just smelling the chocolatey goodness brought thoughts of yumminess to my mind.  I’m not sure what kind of cooks y’all are, but I like to take a “taste” of whatever I cook.  You know, just to make sure everything’s going alright.  I stuck the tip of my finger in the bowl full of chocolate. Then, I could not wait to have a taste.  But when I did, I could not get that strong chocolate out of my mouth quick enough.  It was awful!  It had no sugar whatsoever in it.  It was bitter & nasty!  The claims that the label of the box had of “unsweetened chocolate”.  They really meant that.

That incident got me to thinking about what Jesus tell us about sin.  Just as I had realized about the chocolate, I thought, will I stand before Christ in judgment & say the same thing, “Wow, He really meant that?”  There are several sins pointed out directly in

Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are :adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, v. 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, v. 21envy, murders, drunkeness, revelries and the like: of which I tell you beforehand just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

I know that we understand adultery & fornication are wrong.  But do you mean lashing out at people in anger is a sin?  I know we understand killing someone is not right. But do you mean being jealous is catagorized on the same list of sins?  What is the other thing the apostle Paul says about a person who makes these things parts of their lives?  Verse 21 in Galatians 5 says they will not go to heaven.  So, what does that mean for me?  I have to keep my heart in check at all times.  Knowing that when I stand before God on the day of judgment, I will be accountable for these kinds of sins.  Let’s make sure we are watching our actions, controlling our mouths, and keeping our lives acceptable in the Lord. Otherwise, we may have that awful taste of sin in our lives before we know it.  There are consequences to all of our decisions we make. Whether they be good or bad.  Always knowing that when God says thou shalt not……He really means that.

The culprit-when it says “unsweetened”, they really mean that.