A few years ago, I saw Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.
Then, it was simply a fantasy movie about Greek mythology, gods like Zeus, Poseidon, Athena, Hermes, Hades, Medusa and their demigod children.
I took the movie at face value, watched it for the fun of it, simply enjoyed all the fighting and movie magic.
Recently, I got another opportunity to watch it and it was like I was seeing it for the first time as I was struck by the so many things.
Things like the continuous battle between good and evil, God constantly watching our backs, and us, the human beings, constantly fighting temptations that the Devil throws at us.
There is a scene in the Lotus Casino in Las Vegas, where we see the main character, Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, and his friends try to get the third pearl in order to get to the underworld.
At the casino, the three of them are given lotus flowers. Unknown to them, these things dull their senses, make them forget their reason for being there, thus keeping them prisoners.
They end up staying for five days, 'having fun' until Poseidon helps Percy return to his senses by telling him the truth about the flowers. Then, Percy helps free his friends from the effects of the flowers and they escape.
Watching this scene, I saw how we allow ourselves be seduced by the temptations of the world, and how we dull our senses with things until we forget our true purpose on earth.
Like Percy and his friends, society, friends, family give us things that mess with us. These things are alcohol, sex, drugs, and other vices.
These things are given to us until we reach the level where we start doing and taking them by choice.
Unknown to us, the more we take these things, the duller our senses become, the more difficult it becomes to hear God's voice and the more difficult it becomes to resist these vices.
Just like the movie characters, we find ourselves enjoying sin, thinking that we are having so much fun, not knowing that we are only ruining ourselves.
The good news is that God, like Poseidon in the movie, is looking out for us and trying to win us back because of His everlasting love for us.
He sent His son to die for our sins, and He is still watching out for us, trying to make sure that we do the right thing.
Unfortunately, not everyone is willing to heed his voice.
I know sin can seem like fun, but regardless of what shape it takes, it ends up doing more damage than we think.
It weakens our defences, making it that much easier to go back to and every time we go back to sin, it seems a lot more difficult to get back to God.
This is why the Bible tells us to be on the lookout.
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It is important to never forget that we are only on earth for a period of time until we are called by God.
Ephesians 2:10 says, "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
Remember this, the next time sin/temptations come calling.