I had this coaster made up and have kept it on my desk as a perpetual reminder: sin is crouching nearby.
Even if you are not a “person of faith”, you know this is true. The urge to do something foolish, something unfair, something selfish — that urge isn’t far away. It’s as close as your breath, and mine.
The second part is key: I must rule it, or it will rule me. There is no room for coexistence, no compromise. This thing won’t behave! It will bite me as I step through the door.
This saying came from the Book of Genesis. God said it as a warning to a despondent and bitter Cain, a Cain who would soon ignore the warning and let that dark, furry impulse drive him to violence.
God help me: that could have been me. Help me to keep an eye on the shadow by my doorstep.