There are certain times of the year that I’m more inclined to buy things.

Right around this time of year is one of them. I don’t know what it is … maybe the ads that are stacked on our kitchen table? 

Maybe it’s the Labour Day sales, or just something in the air that begs me to get something new, something fresh, something I don’t really need. Whatever it is, it sure hit me this morning. 

At breakfast I was greeted with a stack of ads, specifically from the stores that I might shop at. I think Lily pulled all the right flyers and put them by my place at the table. … Hey, maybe she’s the real reason I’m in a buying mood!

I’m not that much of a shopper – that’s to say that I don’t go shopping all that often. I can’t remember the last time I walked through the local mall in our town. 

But when I get a hankering, sometimes it’s hard to stop me. 

I remember when I was about eight and my brother, John, was six. We had never gone to the neighbourhood strip mall by ourselves but we campaigned our mom to let us go on our own.

The mall was about a ten minute walk away … maybe fifteen for us because our legs were shorter back then.

We didn’t have anything in particular that we wanted to buy. We just wanted to get some candy and be all independent-like.

After much pleading and begging, my mom said we could go. We were thrilled and excited to be able to do it.

We headed for our room and our respective piggy banks. 

We needed to take some money, but how much money did you really need in order to buy cent candy from a variety store back in 1964? 

We were definitely not going to take along our piggy banks made of cheap china, so we got out our change purses. We didn’t have wallets back then because most of the money we had were coins. 

We opened the bottoms of our banks and started to fill our change purses with coins. 

I’m not sure we had a clear concept of what money was worth. Our intent was to cram into those purses as much money from our banks as we possibly could. 

We were making a run for the border on this trip and we needed every cent we had.

About the time that we were attempting to zip up the purses – that were so full of coins we couldn’t actually pull the zippers across to close them – our mom walked in.

It was like we were caught red-handed. 

She immediately realized that we would have no restraint and promptly called off the trip to the mall.

There were some tears and pleading after that. But mom knew we would not restrain ourselves. 

… I guess with no mom around this weekend and the urge to spend, I’m going to have to restrain myself.

Here’s the thing:  There are times when temptation is greater than at other times. Maybe it’s just the season that brings it out in you. The temptation to sin can seem all encompassing. Knowing when those temptations come is one thing; knowing the reason why you are tempted and purposely setting up roadblocks against them is another. But having restraint is also something you need to employ against temptation. Put up some resistance and call on God. He will come alongside and help you.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to resist right now? Leave your comments and questions below.