Intertribal Life Newspaper -

The handwritten sign on the wall caught my eye:

"Baby gophers for trade; $2 in Top Ramen; Beef-flavored only; See Big Chato."

My cell mate had already told me about the sign, but I just could not believe Big Chato was selling his baby gophers.

"I think it would be fun to have a baby pet gopher in the cell," my cell mate shared with me as we both saw a sad pet adoption commercial on our TVs. I didn't answer because I didn't think he was serious. Plus, the sad commercial filled with sad puppy faces was making me cry a little bit.

I guess my silence was mistaken for agreement, because he then asked me to let him borrow $2 in beef-flavored Top Ramen. My cell mate doesn't speak English very well, and can't read it either, so I answered, "Sure, I'll let you borrow the soups, but can you also give a note to Big Chato for me?"

He thought nothing of the request and agreed. Before going to work I pulled out the $2 in soups and wrote the note.

When I came back from work I was positive I would not be returning to a baby pet gopher. Why? Because in the note I wrote, "Big Chato, it's me, Pastor Adrian. If you give the baby gopher to my cell mate, I'll accidentally forget to share some KFC with you when it comes in."

Big Chato is, well, big. And he loves food. And I knew he would not dare pass up a piece of chicken, especially from KFC. So when I got back to the cell, my cell mate shared with me that Big Chato had already pre-sold all the baby gophers. I've yet to tell him that it was my note that got in the way.

You might be thinking that I did a bad or mean thing, but I would beg to differ. Having a baby gopher was just not good or safe for us. The harmless-looking animal will one day be grown. And grown gophers, outside of their natural environments, can be very dangerous.

My cell mate's desire to have a baby pet gopher just wasn't good for us. As believers, you and I desire things at times that are just not good for us. That little "no-one-will-ever-know" sin. That secret indulgence. That thing that looks harmless.

We take it into our lives. We feed it with our time. We secretly indulge it. And before we know it, we have a fully grown, hard-to-give-up, habitual sin biting at our heels. It started as a cute harmless-looking sin, but turned into an uncontrollable dark, ugly, transgression.

I wrote the note to Big Chato to avoid any headaches down the road, with an uncontrollable, ugly, grown gopher. We must do the same with harmless-looking sins. We must not let even one into our lives, to avoid something uglier down the road.

If you've already let one into your life, it's time to get rid of it. No questions asked.

.....perfectly happy with my Pet-rock....

© 2015 Friends of Adrian.

Many of you have been asking when Adrian's book would be available. That time has come. The Walls Talk is the first compilation of Adrian's updates over the years. It can be purchased online from Amazon.com and other dealers. ISBN number is 1495391000.