WHY ARE GOOD HABITS SO EASY TO BREAK?

After a month off during Christmas break, I am trying to get back into the swimming routine.  Before the holidays, I was up to a strong, steady mile.  I had even upped my forward crawl to ten straight laps.  When I finally got back in the pool last week, twenty laps seemed a reasonable goal.  But even though I swam slowly, I was whupped when I finally climbed out of the water!

We still haven't quite figured out the commute/car pool schedule for spring semester, but it looks like I will probably be able to manage a swim most Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  Awesome!  Today, however, I will not be swimming.  We batted around a couple of plans over breakfast, and, due to the weather and a class cancellation, I decided to stay home.  Not an easy decision to make, because I really want to swim...and because I know how easy it is to not do the right thing, and then to slip in a habit of continually not doing the right thing.

Since I could not exercise at the pool today, I sat down at the computer and chomped through a package of pop-tarts instead.  In my book, Pop-tarts are the equivalent of low-class cookies, not even really a food product.  I had already eaten breakfast:  I was not hungry.  Honestly, I ate the Pop-tarts without even thinking.  Then, when I brushed away the last crumbs, I wondered stupidly, "Now, why did I do that?"

Which brings me to the reason for this post.  Why is it that doing a good thing, the right thing, is so difficult, while doing a foolish or silly or bad thing is so very easy?  To swim laps, I have to argue with myself, grit my teeth, push myself out the door - even though I like swimming.  But to eat a bland, sugary Pop-tart, something I don't even really like?  I can do that without a thought.

To read my Bible this morning, I have to set the alarm.  I have to brew a pot of coffee, and turn off the phone and the computer.  But to blow 30 minutes on Facebook?  Happens in the blink of an eye, before I even realize that I've burned the chili I was cooking for dinner.

Why is it so easy to watch a movie with my mind in neutral, and come away with nothing more than, "That was a fun flick" - instead of engaging and critically considering the underlying message, the worldview promoted?  Why is it that I can sing every word to a blasphemous country song, but remember so few lines from the truly great hymns?

Yeah, I know why - because I am fallen, sinful, broken.  My natural tendency is toward sin and compromise with the flesh.  Total depravity - not as bad as I could be, but bad in every part.  Corrupt in every fiber.

I hear there are some folks who deny the doctrine of total depravity.  Obviously, they're a few Pop-tarts short of a full box.