“Did we catch him last night?”

“Nope, but the little guy has to have a bald backside by now,” David picked up the glue trap and showed me the tiny butt-print. “This is night number two of him leaving this much hair and somehow escaping the glue trap.”

After the last rat fiasco, we thought we were in the clear for a while, but apparently the joys of an older home have struck again. We have another mouse. Judging by the size of his butt-print, he is an actual mouse, not a rat like our last visitor.

This little guy has discovered the granola bars in our pantry. He hasn’t messed with much else, but every night he comes back for another taste. We are using the same bar he nibbled into as bait, and have it surrounded with glue traps and a couple of spring traps. He can’t stay away. He wants it too badly.

It’s interesting that even though he has lost all the hair on his butt, the enticement of the bar still draws him in. That taste. That one moment of enjoyment. That single bite of forbidden fruit.

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? The look that lingers too long and then we look again. The search on the internet that pulls up something we don’t intend to see, yet we don’t close it down. The one drink that we don’t need turns into another, then another. The gossip we shouldn’t repeat, we share it because it’s just too juicy. The pills we don’t need any more, we continue taking, if only to numb the pain. The lunch date with a coworker that should never happen, continues, until our marriage is no longer sacred. The mindless escape of technology that we can’t put down, even though our family and friends need our attention.

And. We. Keep. Coming. Back. To. The. Granola. Bar.

Even though we know it’s a trap. Even though we know it’s not smart. Even though there are warning signs going off in our hearts and minds all the time.

We choose the trap and sacrifice what we know is right. What is better. What is good.

We choose to lose the hair on our butts

As I think about this bald-behind mouse, I am also thinking about my own life. What are my weak places? What are the things that tempt me like nothing else? What forbidden fruit do I keep running to again and again that gets me trapped?

Just like the mouse, before long, if I don’t rein myself in, I’m going to not just lose my hair, but my life. Chasing after the things that satisfy for the moment are not worth it. I want to chase after the things that will make a difference. The things that are on God’s heart. The things that will last.

Let’s stop losing our hair over granola that will never satisfy. Let’s stop being a bald-butted mouse!