Out to lunch at an upscale restaurant, I saw the most beautiful bar display I have ever seen. The clear glass shelves were lighted from below to showcase beautiful bottles of liquor in every hue of the rainbow. They sparkled in the light, and every eye that passed by was drawn to the stunning display. Beautiful, yes, but so dangerous!

Solomon warned, “Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.” The beautiful color is deceptive. He asks, “Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?” The answer, of course, is “They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine” (Proverbs 23:31, 29-30).

The beautiful bottles conceal hidden danger. “At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.” The effect is to muddle the mind and cloud the judgment.

Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again (Proverbs 23:32-35).

Satan knows too well the power of persuasion, and how enticing sin can look. Who would think that just one drink, just one fling, just one “little” sin could lead to so much trouble? Yet hell will be filled with people who followed Satan’s enticing lead. 

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death (James 1:13-15).

Don’t be dazzled by the beauty of sin.