SIN AND LAYS POTATO CHIPS

The Soul Anchor [Hebrews 6:19] - March 1, 2026

For the record, I’m not saying that eating Lays potato chips is necessarily sinful. But Lays did once advertise, “Bet you can’t eat just one.” I can attest personally to that. It seems that once you open the bag, one chip leads to another and before you know it you have an empty bag or a nearly empty bag. Sin works the very much the same way. It appears to be small and harmless, but once we take the first bite, it awakens appetites we never intended to feed and more sins will inevitably follow. Often those sins involve lying to cover up the original sin. A single compromise rarely stays single.

Perhaps David’s story is the clearest “can’t stop at one” moment in Scripture.

The first chip: David stays home from war when kings were supposed to go out to war (2 Samuel 11:1). A seemingly small compromise.

The second chip: He takes a lingering look at Bathsheba.

The third chip: He sends for her and commits adultery with her

The fourth chip: He tries to cover up the resulting pregnancy.

The whole bag: He arranges Uriah’s death.

What began as a moment of laziness and lust spiraled into deception, manipulation, and murder. Sin multiplies. It always wants more of us than we planned to give.

Joseph’s brothers selling him into slavery shows the long-term cost of “just one more.”

The first chip: Jealousy.

The second chip: Conspiracy.

The third chip: Selling Joseph.

The lifelong chips: A life of lying to their father’s face, maintaining a story they could never escape.

Sin doesn’t just multiply actions—it multiplies burdens. Joseph brothers carried guilt for decades.

Sin awakens desire (James 1:14–15). Once desire is stirred, it seeks more.

Sin requires cover-ups. One lie demands another.

Sin reshapes identity. The more we repeat it, the more it becomes “who we are.”

Sin numbs the conscience. What once felt wrong begins to feel normal.

I’ve seen and lived this cycle too much to deny it.

This is why Romans 13:14 warns us to “make no provision for the flesh”, Scripture warns us that sin grows when we feed it. But the good news is that grace can grow even faster when we seek it. David found God’s mercy. Joseph’s brothers found forgiveness. We also can find that grace and forgiveness.

“But where sin increased, grace increased all the more” (Romans 5:20).

The answer isn’t to “try harder” but to run quickly to the One who can break the cycle before it begins.