Do you remember Wimpy, a character from the popular Popeye cartoon? Wimpy always wanted a hamburger. In one cartoon, he said, “I’ll gladly pay you for a hamburger tomorrow if I can have it today.”
That is the voice of an addict. We want deferred payment. “I’ll take a little pleasure today, as long as I can wait and pay tomorrow.” We know sin comes with a price, and we’re okay with that – as long as we don’t have to pay it now. That’s why Americans owe a total of $1.1 trillion on credit card debt. We are willing to overpay tomorrow for the pleasure of today.
Did you know that if you buy a $5 hamburger on a credit card, then only pay the minimum required on that card each month, it will eventually cost you $30 for that burger? That’s what Wimpy did. (I suspect Wimpy was a food addict.)
Recovery Step: Take these words seriously: “Do not be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (Galatians 6:7).
