I have often heard the phrase, “A picture paints a thousand words.” So today, instead of writing a thousand words, I’m just going to write a few. I’m going to let the picture do all the talking.
A friend of mine from El Paso, Texas, gave me this sucker as a souvenir from her hometown. It was supposed to be a joke, but God used it to speak a thousand words to my heart.
In case you can’t tell exactly what it is, this is a sucker with a scorpion inside. To me, it is a picture of sin.
Sin isn’t a very popular word today. Webster defines it as an action contrary to the law of God. But we know from Jesus’ words that it doesn’t have to be an action. Sin can even be a thought.
James wrote this about temptation leading to sin leading to death:
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. (James 1:13-15 ESV)
Lured and enticed by desire.
Desire conceived and gives birth to sin.
Sin full grown and full-blown brings death.
We see each of these three steps lived out in the life of Eve in Genesis 3, and the genesis of spiritual death. We see each of these three steps lived out every day.
So while sin might look like a yummy delicious candy sucker on the outside, when we get to the middle of it, or in the middle of it, we realize there is a scorpion of death waiting to sting.
Not a fun blog post today, but oh what a picture to remember. Can I hear an amen? Just leave a comment below.
Comments 99
Thank you for reminding me that when sin looks like a yummy delicious candy sucker but that on the inside is a scorpion of death waiting to sting me. You get an AMEN !
Oh that we could see the end at the beginning. Satan not only sugar costs but wraps it in such a pretty package that we do not count the cost. The Lord does not sugar coat our
Hmm, what a picture with a powerful message. I couldn’t have thought of sin i?????n????? that way but with this picture i?????n????? mind, it would help us to ??w???? that sin is not a thing to play with no matter ?ô? enticing A??????d????? attractive it may be. Knowing the pains that would result from the scorpions sting is enough to warn us to run away from sin. »?-?? ??????????????????????????? ??? ??? this visual description of sin. ????†§ a great one. More blessing
AMEN
I have been pondering what I have heard about satan. I am a new believer and I was told that satan cant read my thoughts. I ask, then how come he can put sinful thoughts in my head or divert my eyes to something wrong. Todays blog helped me see that my own sinful nature, my desires are the thoughts in my mind that divert me from keeping my eyes on Jesus. Thanks for the lesson Sharon.
i find myself constantly being enticed by my physical desires. thank you for this post. the next time the thought of sin crosses my mind, i will instead think about this lollipop with the scorpion in it and remember that acting on my sinful desires will only lead to death.
amen
A hearty amen! I can relate to this post. The downward spiral is vety subtle initially, but it increases quickly and wildly until you reach a point where only God can deliver you. Stay vigilant and remember the enemy’s M.O.- The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. He doesn’t change. Fortunately, neither does our God!
Yes and Amen!
A HUGE Amen!!!!!
Thanks for this picture to remind us what sin is really like. It looks and even tastes good. I it didn’t, we wouldn’t be tempted by it. However, regardless of how good it looks or tastes, there is death waiting for us in the middle. Thank You Lord for Your grace!!!
AMEN!
Amen! Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you ever wanted to pay! Yes, sin pays wages!
Yes Sharon. Amen.
Amen!
So true, Amen!
Amen! Certainly good words to remember, especially when we get in the “thick” of things.
Amen! Certainly good words to remember, especially when we get in the “thick” of things.
Amen! Thanks for the reminder!
AMEN!!
Amen!! I needed this visual. Thanks for sharing!
Amen ! Thank you. Be blessed
Amen girl! The truth ain’t always pretty, but we always need to remember it. <3
Ahh sin how we are all taken in by something we think will be wonderful. Thank you opening our eyes.
Amen!
For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:56, 57 NLT)
What an interesting photo! Scary yet very detailed. Sin can get into the details of our lives in any moment. We need to stay focused on God and His Word. Thanks for the reminder. Have a blessed day! Amen! 🙂
GREAT Visual!! I think we have this view of Satan that doesn’t always mesh with today’s society….but that Lollipop says it all.
AMEN!
Amen!
How very true..Satan is always lurking and we have to be aware..I had to give him a kick yesterday and tell him to get away from me, in the name of Jesus I commanded him to leave me alone..Sometimes I go open my front door and just kick him out!!! It works, try it sometime. I love reading your stories. Thank you.
You go girl!
Very Good! AMEN. I have a question my teenage granddaughter told me someone told her a sin is a sin know matter what it is.I was wondering what your thought were?
I so look forward to your blog, keep them coming even when they sting like a scorpion.
Cute!
Amen. A timely reminder my sister. All the more reason why we should have an ear that will hear the still small voice of the master as He directs us so that we will not be lured to sin by our desires. Once entangled it is not easy to come out. I thank you agan Sharon. (Botswana)
AMEN
: Amen and OUCH !!
Lured by a desire – as an emotional and sensitive woman : it’s my downfall. My strength and weakness. Thank you for the picture of sin– one that will STICK with me. Amen.
Thank you for this reminder. As a Christian Business leader committed to using the company as a platform for ministry, I’m constantly surrounded by an environment that says materialistic attainment brings pleasure and pleasure is the ultimate measure of success. Having these type of posts sprinkled throughout my day / week helps me maintain the right perspective, the eternal perspective, on the environment I’m in.
Amen. A great reminder that our eyes, hearts and mind must be in sync and focused on God’s word, always. In order to help us see through a situation or something that might not always be as transparent to sin as the lollipop. Thank you for sharing this message with me.
Sometimes a picture has more meaning than words. Thank you for sharing that as a reminder of how easily we can get caught.
AMEN!!
AMEN!
So good to see this. A picture to remember!
AMEN…I was just talking about this with someone the other day. At their last job they were surrounded by worldly sin that was trying to take over the whole place and make their way everyone else s way. At the new place they are surrounded by “Christians” who are supposed to be so much better but pride has so much a hold on them that they are pretty much JUST AS BAD as the worldly group and in many ways the worldly group was better because one knew where they stood. The current group lies and postures and politics. They are sneaky and conniving. At least the other group were out front with the way they felt about things. This group is trying to use God in the mix and I think God is absolutely less pleased with the “Godly” Group. I was pointing out that they are both sinning and sin is sin.
That makes me sad. I pray you will be a light of truth in that place.
Amen and Amen!!!!
AMEN Temptation seems to frequently come sugar coated. Thank you for the visual.
Amen and Amen!
Amen !, thanks for showing sin this way…….. My desire is to everything as per God’s will, and sometimes I feel lost in a middle of a dessert of sins.
Thank you, Sharon!! Please pray for our prodigal daughter who accepted The Lord at 15. She loved Him and had such a mature faith until just a few years ago. (She is 29) Our petite, shy, feminine daughter a year and half ago was greatly deceived by the enemy and drawn to the gay lifestyle. Truly a John 10:10 moment that we NEVER saw coming. Graduated high school and college with honors, started a wonderful job, dating nice guys. As her parents we believe she is fighting some depression that she has fought off and on, and the enemy came in at a vulnerable low point of loneliness. I write this lengthy post to ask for prayer for her…but also our society. The culture is enticing people into this sin of the gay lifestyle, and it is Satan’s latest weapon that is destroying families! It is a plague. Our daughter would NEVER even thought of this 10 years ago! But in a culture that accepts it in every area, (TV, movies, society, etc) it has become too easy. She has taken her eye off Jesus and reached for a “scorpion sucker!” Please pray that our Great Shepherd will woo his lost sheep back to Him and her family. Our hearts are broken… but praying for “beauty for ashes” as we wait on Him in expectant faith of full deliverance and restoration!! And AMEN to your great post! 🙂
Let’s all pray for Sarah’s daughter.
Thank you for the awesome visual which is so true of sin! I will be sure to pass this on to the ladies I work with. Thank you for your devotions and books which are always inspiring and such a blessing to me. Keep them coming!
Amen Sharon everything that looks good isn’t good for you.
Amen.
GOD bless you sharon
AMEN!
I believe that amen
Very true and great timing!!
AMEN Sister!!
What a great picture and yes I can see it clearly! How easy to think that the world has something sweet to offer only to find out how sour it really is and what a sucker we are to it’s lure. Keep up the good fight for the sweetest reward ever to be with our God forever!
Amen… I guest if you look at it, Halloween not the only time we can share this message to our love ones. Thank God for the cross, and to recognize his voice so we won’t be sting by Satan. Thank God for his words & love to protect us, because man does not live by bread alone, but by holy spirit. Amen
Amen! Hit the nail on the head! I myself needed this message as a truthful reminder. Thanks Sharon for your knowledge and grace.
AMEN!! What a wonderful reading, reminder and love all the metphoric responses in the comments!! Have a blessed day everyone!!
Amen and amen!
Amen. As i was speak to a group of women the other day it came to me that if satan came to us in the garment that he is painted with ( a horn, tail, a for and red all over) we would run in the opposite direction each time. He would not get us. However, he usually comes robed in sweetness, gentleness and appear very harmless like the sucker. So instead of running away from him, we run to him and fall in his arms. I pray God’s people will learn to see sin for what it is.
I instantly saw the tempting treat with the danger in it and thought “The devil is so obvious sometimes!” This is what most Christians don’t understand. They can still be tempted by the sugar in the sucker even when they see the scorpion laying just below the surface. Just because we can see the scorpion doesn’t mean we can avoid the danger. It doesn’t mean we won’t be tempted to see just how close we can get and how much of the goody we can devour before the fatal sting. Living on the edge is dangerous. Better to miss out on a sweet treat than risk the sting that comes from listening to the flesh and sinful desires.
Amen Sharon. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, boy did that bring your thoughts home. Thanks.
Amen, i won’t look at a candy sucker the same again.
Amen, dear friend
Wow!
Amen
Amen for sure! What a great analogy! Thanks Sharon
Wow, great image to recall when tempted! It’s the sugar that draws you in every time, sly & subtle – “I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun” (Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, 1813).
I love Jane Austen . That is a powerful quote . Thank you for sharing it. I will ponder that all day.
Amen. Even though my thoughts seem justified… The way that seems right to man (and even a very wise woman) can lead to death. I want to be alive in HIM. Many sinful ideas are imaginations that aren’t free of fantasy… Fantasies that are filled with poision apples. Pray my strength in The Lord.
AMEN SISTER!!
WOW! Igive a big AMEN, AN GLORY TO GOD, this was amazzing an so very true. Lifes not sugar coated by a sucker Nn if we don’t see what the devil tries to do on a daily basis then we will b stuck. so i want to say i am new to this site but I love it an todays message was something I really needed to hear,Praise God an thank u
Amen. About ten minutes ago, a friend and I were discussing how effective a picture can be when bringing a point across. Then I opened your email. Thank you for the picture, a powerful reminder of sin’s reward.
AMEN! Loved this and the way you explained it. Thanks so much.
The scorpion makes that candy look nasty! I wish that sin looked nasty! Sin looks appetizing then it stings like the scorpion. You brought it home Sharon and made it clear as that candy. Sin is deadly if you choose to let it kill you! Although choosing to stay away from sin is the difficult choice it is the choice that leads to life and not death. Thank you for simplicity today!
Amen! Sin even taste good..lol, until you get to the bitter and disgusting center where death and destruction dwell! …yikes, thats scary place! Its interesting though, how the enemy “sugar coats” everything, so we are enticed by the look and taste of sin.
I am so glad that as a Christian, i know better than to entertain such taunting : )
Thank you Sharon, short but sweet! I needed to hear that
Amen x
Amen!
No its not a popular subject, but we so need to be reminded to guard ourselves from sin. I just taught a couple little kids in Sunday School about we must guard what comes into our eyes and ears because it remains in our thoughts and can lead us to doing wrong. You know the vacation Bible School song, Be careful little …ears, eyes, etc…Oh to God we would aspire to, “Be ye holy for I am holy.” It so pleases God that we strive to keep our hearts and minds pure. Be on the look out for how the devil will suck us into just getting away from God. Sin will take us further than we want to go and keep us longer than we want to stay. Its never good….thanks Sharon!
Amen, we forget sin doesn’t always look like sin. Or sometimes we are so enticed even though we know the outcome we go after it anyway.
Amen! So very very true!
Amen! Good observation.
amen!
Amen!
Amen!! Although the post or the story seems harsh, it is such an eye opener and a ever present reminder of God’s words that the “wages of sin is death” is personified perfectly in something as small and tasty as a piece of candy. Thank God for his mercy!
Sharon – my time was tight the day I read this so I didn’t comment at that time. But I will always see this picture in my mind when I think of all the “sweet things” out there that try to pull me away from walking in step with God. They taste sweet at first, but there is always a catch, a sudden strike that hits us right where it will hurt the most and can bring us down like Lincoln Logs. I have been there and I pray that I will never go there again, even in small ways. Thanks for the insight.
Good insight!
Amen…I always get a word from reading your blogs and able to share it with someone else in need!! Thank God for you Ms. Sharon!
Thank you
AMEN indeed, thnx a lot. This is a really amazing blog. May God bless you as you continue the great work!
Amen.
Sharon this is so very true and in this world today we have to be so very careful because so many things are made sugar coated , so when you are not careful or maybe even thinking right because you may be exhausted or perhaps just very stressed and you just aren’t fully capable of thinking right you could end up like a bug in a spiders web . Thank you so much for your blog for your help and all you do. I am sure you are a blessing to lots of women in the world , I am just now other than reading the girl friends in God going to get to know you better and I am so very grateful for you responding to my e-mail and starting me in the right direction ,my book is on the way that you suggested .
Thank you so very much I will let you know after I read the book or maybe after I start reading on how my days are changing for the better.
Sincerely ,
Kimberley Leonard
Thanks for this word, we so need it in todays world. I can see how sin can look yummy and sting, but thanks to Our Heavenly Father, He can pull us out from it. We might have a scar but it will remind us! 🙂 not to go there again. (I hope)
Thanks again
Cindy
Hi. Time and again we are told to confess and our sins will be forgiven, but now my question is, on judgement day, all will be judged accordingly. Is this not a contradiction of the Bible? please clarify.. I do enjoy your blogs. (Botswana)
For a Believer, we will not be judged. Our works will be judged, and we will be rewarded accordingly. However, there is no condemnations for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Oh my, what a great reminder of the power and trickier of Satan, Thank you!