Icicles

I remember seeing icicles hanging off of my parent's home when I was a child and longing to be able to reach them so I could break one off and suck on it. The memory is so clear in my mind that I could paint a picture of it.  I think most children upon spying an icicle would want to do the same.   My grandson confirmed my thoughts not long ago when he spent the night at our home.  Over night there was a snow fall but in the morning the sun shone beautifully making the snow sparkle as if it had been sprinkled with fairy dust.  It also caused the snow on my pick up truck to melt, dripping down the salt and dirt laden sides of the truck to form beautiful crystaline icicles on the bottom of the truck.  I saw the icicles and did not give them much of a second thought. Such is the curse of being a grown up. 

Well, my lack of imagination was made up for in my 5 year old grandson.   He was helping his papa shovel snow.   He is an enthusiastic shoveller, even going under my truck to  shovel away the snow that had blown underneath it.   In an instant he saw the icicles, grabbed one and popped it into his mouth. It took him just as short a time to pull it out, spit out the bad salty taste in his mouth and say "bad decision, bad decision". It was all I could do to not double over laughing.  Instead I found an icicle on a clean overhang (as clean as could be expected anyway) broke it off and gave it to him.   He totally enjoyed the new, clean icicle.
The moment makes me ponder how natural it is for us to look at, admire and sometimes take a taste of something that looks beautiful and desireable but is in fact quite unclean. Some such icicles are over eating, the roll of tape or pad of paper taken from the work place, pornography or speeding. They look desireable for whatever reason.  They sparkle as they catch our eye and have a great appeal to us as worth having. Inside they are harmful, if not fatal, if consumed.
Equally unfortunate it the problem that we do not always have the immediate and appropriate response of "bad decision, bad decision" that my grandson did.  Somehow our taste buds have been dulled by repeated indulgence in consuming impure substances. What a dilema. So many icicles and how are we supposed to discern which ones are pure and which ones are tainted?  Fortunately, like my grandson, we also have an intercessor who  steers us in the right direction.  He gives us pure choices, points us upward to higher ground and purer sources.  We have the greatest source of wisdom in the Holy Spirit.  He is our guide and teacher.   He helps us refine our observational skills to see what contaminates the things around us that look desireable but are in fact tainted. I thank God that he gave me the  Holy Spirit to help me either refrain from foolish choices or see my foolishness for what it is and steers me in the right direction.  I am far from perfect in following His advice, but am certainly far better off having His guidance to lead me.