Shut the Window
Bugs everywhere. Spiders, ladybugs and ants are seemingly taking over as if they pay the rent or the mortgage. You don’t understand where they could be coming from until you discover the tiny crack between the door and the doorpost or the small rip in the screen of the window that you like to keep open at night. Like thieves in the night, these tiny uninvited, unwelcome guests have full access to your home and you are seemingly unaware!
When I asked God why I struggle so much with certain sinful desires, He gave me that image. He knows how much I hate spiders, so this is a point well taken! He showed me how we leave windows to sin open in our lives but think it’s ok because it’s just a little crack to let the breeze in. We don’t realize that the little cracked window gives way to a ripped screen that is supposed to separate us from the things we don’t want to come into our lives.
With the window open and the screen in disrepair, we are left vulnerable to an infestation of sin that slowly builds until you can’t help but notice that you have a real problem on your hands.
This is why it is so important to guard our hearts by being mindful of what we take in through our senses. The music we listen to, even the shows and movies we watch, while seemingly harmful can initiate thought patterns that take us in the wrong direction.
Let us be aware of the things we let into our temples, the thoughts that we dwell on, the images we replay in our mind. Are those things edifying? Do these things ultimately lead us to sin and feelings of guilt and shame?
Let’s shut the window on the enemy today and every day! Amen.
Proverbs 4:23-27 (New International Version)
23 Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.
24 Put away perversity from your mouth;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead,
fix your gaze directly before you.
26 Make level paths for your feet
and take only ways that are firm.
27 Do not swerve to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.
