Baloney Sandwiches

Devotional – John Clardy

Hebrews 12:1 ESV           Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

A construction worker looked at the sandwich in his lunch box and complained to a coworker, "Baloney again. I hate baloney!" Wanting to be sympathetic, the coworker suggested, "If you hate it so much, why don't you ask your wife to make you something else?" The man replied, "I can’t. My wife didn't make it. I did."

Isn’t that a perfect illustration of many of the problems and pitfalls that chronically occur in our lives? What about bad decisions that we repetitively make that undermines our relationships, rather than to strengthen and stabilize them? How many people make themselves baloney sandwiches and then act like victims when it's time to eat them?  They are like the man who killed his parents and then asked the court for mercy on the grounds that he was an orphan.

The fact is that each of us is ultimately responsible for our own lives.  And each of us must understand that unless we decide to change our wrong attitudes, our wrong acquaintances or our wrong actions, it is ludicrous to expect anything but wrong results.

Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. I wonder if he could have possibly been thinking of all the people who abandon common sense, abandon their values and high standards and ignore their experience by getting involved in baloney-sandwich predicaments.

There is no one who believes in the mercy of God more than I do.  I depend upon it.  I rely upon it.  I know that the Lord can and does miraculously deliver us from many things.  I believe the scripture that promises that when the adversary tries to overwhelm us that God will stand up for us and defend us.  BUT, I also believe that some of the things that we entangle and entrap ourselves in do not require a divine or miraculous delivery.   There are many situations that we already know what we need to do to free ourselves from them.  We are responsible change our behavior.

It is like the person that was praying about their weight problem, “Oh Lord! Please take off this weight!”  The Lord replied, “You put it on.  You take it off!”

James 1:14 GW  Everyone is tempted by his own desires as they lure him away and trap him.

If you are going to gain victory over your “besetting sin”, you must take responsibility for your own actions! Quit blaming others for the harmful attitudes or resentments that you are continually returning to and ask God to forgive you of your own lust and your own baloney sandwiches.

No one is making you hate. No one is making you cheat or steal.  No one is forcing you to be jealous or a talebearer.  It is your own pride, your own lust, your own desires, your own ambitions that trap you! Admit it, “It’s not my brother, It’s not my sister, but it is me, oh Lord – standing in the need of prayer!” Anything else is just --- well --- baloney!