Free Candy?!

News outlets reported recently that neighborhoods from North Carolina to Texas to California have been finding plastic bags in their driveways with fliers inviting membership to the Ku Klux Klan. Of course, whoever is dropping the bags onto driveways has no idea who lives in the homes, so all manner of races have received the fliers.

Here’s the quite interesting twist to the story: In each bag, along with the recruitment flier, are a couple of pieces of candy—jolly ranchers or peppermints are visible inside.

The obvious reason for the tactic would be for someone to walk outside their home, see the bag in the driveway, but just can’t ignore it or think it’s random trash, because they would quickly be saying, “Oh, boy! Free candy!” This, of course, would supposedly be a strong motivator to open the bag to retrieve the candy, thereby seeing and reading the flier. Classic marketing bait.

Is it a wide stretch to think someone tempted by candy could go all the way to joining the KKK? Well, of course. But, the crazy thing is this age-old tactic for evil to enter our lives, which began in the Garden, amazingly, still works on us all the time today.

This crazy news story invites us to a moment of pause to ask the broader question: “Where am I opening a bag of evil just because I see ‘free candy?’”

You are certainly smart enough to know where and when you are, but sometimes we just have to be reminded to open our eyes and ask the question. Then stop opening the bag or, better yet, just throw the bag away—contents and all.

After all, there has never been, nor will there ever be, truly “free candy.” There is always a catch, typically, followed by a hook.

Temptation is the pull of man’s own evil thoughts and wishes. —James 1:14 TLB

 A man is tempted to do wrong when he lets himself be led by what his bad thoughts tell him to do. —James 1:14 NLV




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