Hot Potato

"You must burn their idols in fire, and you must not covet the silver or gold that covers them. You must not take it or it will become a trap to you, for it is detestable to the LORD your God. Do not bring any detestable objects into your home, for then you will be destroyed, just like them. You must utterly detest such things, for they are set apart for destruction. (Deuteronomy 7:25-26 NLT)

Have you ever played the "hot potato" game?  It's fun and can be a bit high-pressure.  A group of people stand or sit in a circle.  The "potato" (or other small object) is given to one of the people.  The group passes the potato around the circle in one direction while music plays.  When the music stops, whoever is holding the potato is out.  Play progresses until only one person is left.

Sometimes I think we approach our walk with God like the hot potato game.  Someone passes us something that God doesn't want us to do.  It's "hot" so we want to get rid of it.  We work hard to get rid of the problem and we give it to someone else so it doesn't burn us.  We just hope that we're not stuck holding the hot potato when the "music stops" and God returns.

There's a flaw in this thinking, though.  In life, unlike the game, we never need to take the "hot potato" into our hands.  In fact, God tells us over and over again not to take on sins that others do.  Even if we think it will only be "for a little while: or "I can handle it," it's not true.  It will become a trap for you and you will get caught with the "potato" in your hand.  It's best just not to accept it at all. Then you'll win the game.