It’s funny how in life things that are so attractive, so tasty, so alluring can in the end be so deadly. I know, that’s a cheery start to our short time together today but it’s absolutely true.

Think of junk food – whatever your favourite variety happens to be. By and large, it’s made up of UPFs – Ultra Processed Foods; ingredients that have had their natural goodness manufactured out of them and chemicals added to make them so attractive to you. A better word would perhaps be addictive.

A recent study published in the British Medical Journal found that people who consumed high amounts of UPFs had a 62% higher risk of all-cause mortality, particularly from cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.

So, attractive though junk food may be, it will likely cause you to die a death that you didn’t have to die, if that makes sense. So, if you, like many others, are addicted to junk food, then let me ask you, of what benefit is it to you, really? And in the same vein …

Romans 6:21-23 You did evil things, and now you are ashamed of what you did. Did those things help you? No, they only brought death. But now you are free from sin. You have become slaves of God, and the result is that you live only for God. This will bring you eternal life. When people sin, they earn what sin pays—death. But God gives his people a free gift—eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The natural consequence of sin is not just physical death, but spiritual death—a life empty of God’s presence and an eternity separated from Him. Keep sinning and you’ll end up dying a death that you didn’t have to die.

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.