January 31, 2019 ● 19-09
Ps. 119:9: How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word.
Eph. 5:15: Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise.
Eph. 6:12: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
We had a squirrel problem. At one time, in our attic, there was an attic fan. The fan is long gone but the piece of sheet metal it rested on and the louvers that would allow the exhaust out are still there, attached to the outside of the house. I discovered that squirrels had decided to make a nest, a home, between the sheet metal and the window, and apparently the nest had been there for some time. The window was the only barrier between the squirrels and the inside of our home. Apparently over time, the squirrels had chewed around the casing of the window and used that wood to make their nest.
Once the squirrels had been discovered, we needed a plan to get rid of them. Beating on the window, bright lights and loud music had no effect whatsoever; these were city squirrels so they were used to humans and not really afraid of much. I had read about a device that emits a high frequency sound that drive rodents and squirrels away, so I bought one. Guess what? It worked! It was not fifteen minutes after plugging that device in and turning it on that the squirrels were gone. I let it run all day; I checked it at lunch. One of the squirrels had come back, but as soon as I hit the window, he was gone! When I came back in the afternoon they were gone; my wife and I went to work. I had already purchased some heavy duty wire screen to put in place. So, we got the window opened, vacuumed out all the nesting material and sprayed the window sill with bleach, then I installed the screen so they would not get back in. I did see one of the squirrels on the side of the house trying to get back in, but no joy; the screen worked. We know the window will have to be replaced in the spring, but for now hopefully what we have done will keep them out.
Squirrels are tenacious critters, they will try and try to get into some place, they don’t give up easily and they are not scared away easily either. Sin can be that way too. If we are not careful we can let sin make a “home” in our lives. Paul wrote we war against an unseen enemy, the devil, and he is tenacious. He attacks and attacks, he tempts us and does whatever he can do to get us to allow sin in our lives, to yield to the attacks. Once sin is discovered in our lives, we have to get rid of it immediately because the longer it says the more imbedded it becomes in our lives.
We had a game plan for getting rid of the squirrels; you need a game plan to deal with sin once it is discovered.
- Identify the sin.
- Confess it to the Lord.
- Make a commitment to do whatever you have to do to get rid of it.
- Place barriers and guardrails in your life to prevent it from coming back.
- Pray and rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to help you deal with the attacks of the enemy.
None of us are immune to sin, all of us will be and are tempted every day. Some temptations are subtle, some are in your face. We have to be diligent, ever watchful so that sin does not get into our lives and, “make a nest.” We must be diligent to take a stand in the Word of God and in the Spirit of God to say to sin, “You will not live here!” I want to encourage you to let God’s Word equip you to stand against the attacks of the enemy. Use God’s Word and the power of the Holy Spirit to identify and eradicate any sins that may try to creep into your life. Meditate and study these scriptures that will help you take a stand against the attacks of the enemy:
1 John 1:6-10; Ps. 119:105; Ps. 139:23-24; Eph. 6:10-18; Phil. 4:8; Col. 3:1-17