Back in the days of the Civil War, a smuggler asked a riverboat captain to accept an illegal shipment of cotton onto his boat. The smuggler said, “I’ll give you $300 to transport these bales.” The captain answered, “No, I don’t want to get mixed up in anything illegal.” “I’ll make it $1,000,” said the smuggler. “No,” said the captain. Finally, the smuggler made his highest offer of $3,000. At that point the captain pulled a pistol from his belt and said, “You get off my boat. You’re getting too close to my price!”

Let me point out two things about that captain. #1: He was moral enough to sincerely try to do right in a wrong world. #2: He was wise enough to know that even he was capable of yielding to temptation if the pay was too much to resist. I think we need more people like that today, people who have a ton of godly morality but who realize they are still sin-tainted enough to engage in immorality if the circumstances are right. Are you such a person? And, if you are, can you recognize your breaking point when it comes to temptation? If you can’t, you’d better learn to fast!