The two-fold path of Sin

Alright, this is my warm up. I'm getting used to writing each day. Just like running or flossing (I guess) I just gotta get in the habit of writing. But first I have to go to the bathroom...okay back. Wow, today is two months to the day that I finish my ninth year of college and graduate for good! I honestly don't know how I feel about that yet. In a time when I should be getting a terminal case of super-senioritis though, I can say that I am so motivated to squeeze every last bit out of this experience that I can before its gone. Lord, help me live life to the absolute fullest for these last two months here. One end is also a new beginning.

Now for a halfway useful thought. I was reflecting on sin today and the nature of it. If we understand Sin, by one of its many definitions, as the pursuit of fulfillment apart from God then I would say we are led by it in two ultimate directions: novelty and excess. Since we as Christians believe there is no true fulfillment apart from God (only watered down versions) then Sin is the pursuit of that which doesn't exist. This results in a trial and error approach to many other vices such as alcohol (of which I know a lot about), or sex, or any of a number of other things. At first, most sin does have the taste of something fulfilling but its aftertaste is always bland and unsatisfying. When sin ceases to fulfill, our natural response is to either "do it differently" or "do it more". My first few experiences with drinking were spectacular, nothing but fun and more fun. But as that experience started to wane, I had to either drink more or add some novelty to my drinking in the form of games, keg stands, or other such innovations. In cyclic fashion like a hamster on a wheel, each "new" experience provided by novelty or excess wained the process was repeated. Eventually, as it did in my case, novelty and excess were pushed to distructive limits that could have seriously hurt me if God hadn't given me another way. Releasing me from this cyclic pattern and putting me back on the path toward Him, I found the fulfillment I had searched for and pursued with such vigor. This time though, I found what I looking for because I was pointed at God, therefore such novelty and excess were unneeded. I do of course try to find ways to experience God freshly and in increasing fashion today, but this is not the frenzied attempts to find purpose and peace they were previously. It is the fulfillment I found when I first came to God that I now explore the depths of. All that's left is gratitude, thank you Lord.