Parable of the Mosquito

I HATE mosquito bites. I know that they go away faster if you don't scratch them, but at least once with every mosquito bite, I give in and just scratch the darn thing, and it FEELS so satisfying when I'm doing it... but who knows how long it will hang around after that one satisfying scratch! I was at work one time, focusing on the computer, and I started to rub my leg. It wasn't anywhere near the mosquito bite I'd gotten, so I was safe. It seemed like the itch had migrated down my leg, so I felt safe scratching there, but the itch just slowly moved up until I was SCRATCHING THE MOSQUITO BITE!!!! I hadn't meant to do it, I was just scratching somewhere else! 

Now, in the spirit of all parables, this only applies to the set limits I discuss, it is not worldly applicable to all situations. BUT, a mosquito bite is like sin. We know we are not supposed to do the major sins, and we stay as far away from them as we can; but Satan knows what we are doing, too, and tries to work around it. Take adultery for example - no one ever goes out one day and just does it; but if Satan can find a spot where you feel safe, where it isn't hurting anyone, it isn't ADULTERY - say thoughts about someone other than your spouse, or just simply being comfortable being alone with a member of the opposite sex who is not your spouse, harmless things that we feel safe doing, so far away from the SIN that we're trying to avoid. Then, he leads us closer and closer, finding more and more spots where we can justify safety, and somehow, boom, we're SCRATCHING THE MOSQUITO BITE!