What Are You Leaving Behind?
A man in Gallatin, Tennessee walked into a Walmart dressing room with a new pair of jeans. He took off his old worn and dirty jeans, and put on the new pair from off the rack. They fit well! So, he ripped off the tags and walked out…all the way out of the store.
Thinking he got away with it, he met up with his girlfriend in the parking lot and they headed to a nearby Longhorn Steakhouse. After a good dinner, they slipped out of the restaurant without paying the bill. “What a great night!” he thought. A brand new pair of jeans and a free steak dinner.
But there was a problem. When he took his old jeans off, he left his wallet, with lots of money (more than the value of the jeans and the steak dinner) and his ID inside. A suspicious clerk had seen him leave the dressing room without carrying anything. After checking the room, she found his old pants. The police came, got his ID, and ran his license plate. Then, police got a call from the Longhorn Steakhouse of “walk-out” customers, and they spotted his license plate as he attempted to drive out of the parking lot.
Where did that new pair of jeans get him? In reality, he left a lot more behind than he took out of the store. He left his money. But worse, he left his identity.
We do that every time we give in to temptation. While sin promises to give us something, we always leave behind more than the short-term pleasure we get from doing wrong. We leave behind a portion of our net worth. And we leave behind our identity.
When you are rude to a coworker, you might feel good for a few moments for “speaking your mind.” But, you leave behind things that are more valuable…an opportunity to express graciousness, the fulfillment that comes from forgiving someone, and your reputation. Worse, you leave behind your identity in Christ (Ephesians 4:1). Every sin is this way. We leave behind more than we gain…In particular, our reputation as followers of Jesus.
Hang on to your identity! Protect those things that are most valuable! Let people see who you are because of Jesus and what you have in Christ by the way you talk and live.
The dressing room thief wound up in a jail cell, without his new or old pair of jeans, and his identity bagged away in an evidence locker. I don’t think it was worth it. Is your sin worth it?