Anybody remember the television show back in the 80s called “Hart to Hart”? It was one of those murder mystery shows. Every week, Mr. and Mrs. Hart, a glamorous, jet-setting couple, would show up somewhere to visit friends. Not long after their arrival, somebody turned up dead, and the rest of the hour, they worked to figure out the crime.

    As we watched, everyone asked the question, “Who done it?” Except me. I asked a different question. “Why do these people ever invite the Harts to come anywhere near them?” Didn’t they see the trail of bodies left behind them? Didn’t they notice the murder and mayhem they seemed to attract like some sort of macabre magnets? Week after week, people dropping like flies around them, and yet somehow they are still on the A-list for parties. How does this work?!

    Imagine for just a second you’re a character in their TV show. If I even spotted the Harts at a distance, I would run, not walk, the other way. Quickly. Death follows close behind them, and I have no desire to end up as a chalk outline. In fact, I’d have two words for Mr. and Mrs. Hart — restraining order.

    This is of course silly; it’s only a TV show, and an old, dated one at that. But there’s a lesson in it.

...there’s a lesson in it.

    Why do people still fall for the lie of drugs? Why does pornography continue to lure victim after victim? Have we not seen enough of the effects of alcohol to know it’s a Very Bad Thing? Are we doomed to forever struggle and lose the battle against avarice and malice and prejudice?

    Yet somehow, we keep inviting these “friends” over. We think we can be chummy with greed without getting burned. We justify dabbling in gossip, and then we act surprised when someone gets hurt. Can we not see the trail of souls destroyed by these sins? Are we blind? Are we powerless to say no?

    Yes, unfortunately, we are blind. But God can make us see, if we ask Him. Yes, our flesh is exceedingly weak, but God can make us strong, if we ask Him.

PRAYER: Lord, open my eyes to the dangers around me. Strengthen my resolve to live for you, and empower me to make right choices. I ask for your divine protection — a spiritual restraining order — against the sin that wants to enslave me. In the name of Jesus Christ, my deliverer, I pray. Amen.

 

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© 2003, Paul Lee.

Title: "A Hart to Hart Talk"
Author: Paul Lee
Publication Date: April 16, 2003