Wrestling With Sin

For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. James 1:13b-15

The spider looked innocent enough, just like all the others I’d allowed inside my home, until it jumped on my husband’s arm and bit him.

I laughingly refer to my approach toward spiders as my amnesty program. As long as the spiders behave, they can come inside unharmed. My goodwill doesn’t extend to deadly spiders like black widows or brown recluses. However, at that point, my husband didn’t see the humor in being bitten by a harmless spider or my amnesty program.

The previous autumn, I’d allowed a rather large spider to come under the door every night and run around. By morning he’d be gone. Each night, this repeated itself until the spider climbed over the couch and landed on my husband’s lap while he watched television. He wasn’t amused by this episode either and put a stop to this nightly visit. J

I began to see the parallels between allowing the spiders free run of my home and sin. The spiders spin their webs. I sweep them down, and within a week, they’re back. I justify it by not allowing in deadly spiders. What harm can come of that?

The Bible instructs us to flee from sin, yet we allow it to creep into our lives and then routinely sweep out the debris without fully killing the sin. We comfort ourselves with the knowledge that we don’t commit deadly sins like murder or stealing, but the end result is the same. When we least expect it, the regular garden-variety sin has bitten us and left a mark on our lives.

What sin are you struggling to rid your life of today? Perhaps it’s a small sin you routinely wrestle with, and it’s dragging you down because you won’t get rid of it once and for all. Ask God to help you identify the areas of your life that need cleaning up.

Meanwhile, I’ve got some cobwebs to sweep down. Again. J

Laura Hodges Poole is a freelance writer with three dozen articles, devotions, and short stories in publication. She writes Christian romance novels and is a 2012 RWA Emily finalist, placing second amongst a nationwide field of Christian and secular entries. Laura is also an Associate Editor with Christian Devotions ministry. Her passion is encouraging others in their Christian walk through her blog, A Word of Encouragement. She may be contacted at laurapoole565@gmail.com.