Temptation beckons me go down that path again,
To lose myself in the cosy theatre in my brain.
“No one thought,” she points out, “is sin against your God.”
So why not close my eyes and let the pleasure reign?
Sin is deceitful; I must firstly pause to think–
Why do I then feel dread and guilt and strain,
And know the sadness in that blood-stained Face?
She must be wrong; I must stay well away
Before I even see the first scene acted out.
That scene shall lead the captive train, of thoughts
Being taken into the obedience of my Lord.
No longer remains her case for individual thoughts;
Components of sin may individually be pure.
In the compulsive nature of this collection sin resides
That wants to hold me in subjection. How can it be?
I am blood-bought, fully redeemed, His slave, His child.

Temptation welcomes me relax in comfort waters warm.
A strong eddy lies most surely ‘neath deceptive calm.
“It’s not a thought, it’s just a mood,” she reasons, and it’s true
That’s how I came to daydream by the shallows “safe” to wet my toes.
Tugs the old addiction, as the high tide washes in;
Sweet meloncholy morphs into a rip,
But hark that sound, amidst the deafening din,
Of the Spirit’s tow, as inch by inch I’m winched out slow
And steady as the urgent shimmer laps the shore.
The deadly vortex I have escaped –
Of enticement, desire, sin, and death,
From perilous waters t’ward spiritual health.
I go cold turkey; the rescue does not thrill;
I feel no relief, I only believe, clinging to the Rock that is higher than I.
The long night will pass and tomorrow I’ll be filled,
With happiness, though not more secure, for I’m always His child.

Verse 1 was penned on 22 March 2012, inspired by a friend’s post Thought’s Captive
Verse 2 was penned in November 2013.

[Disclaimer: I am not proud of most of the “poetry” that I have penned in my lifetime. I am no poet, but most of these poems were written at times when prose could not have provided the necessary expression and release of emotion. My poems are as important to me as singing may to be to someone who is not endowed with a singing voice—it justifiably fulfills a need. Thus, although not primarily meant for the consumption of the wider audience, it has a place in my blog, which, as I have mentioned before, also functions as a platform for my own retrieval and use.]