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Monday, September 7, 2009

Stinging Nettles



Working on trimming tree limbs along the driveway this morning, I squealed as I took a step forward to balance my stance. I knew it was there. But I just forgot it was that close.

The stinging nettle got me again.

The signs are all there. The pretty, petite white flowers on top of the ugly, stalks of sharks-teeth rows of stinging hairs. The plant practically screams danger, beware, keep your distance! But being engrossed in the task at hand, I let down my guard, resulting in the perforation of the tender skin on my ankle.

The stinging nettles are all over our property. I know they are there. Been stung many times before. But apparently knowing they are there isn’t enough to protect me.

Sin is like that. There are signs all over the place, reminding us of the danger. The Holy Spirit doesn’t just let us walk into danger without doing everything He can to warn us. We just tune Him out and walk headlong into the thicket of brambles, and then wonder why we got hurt.

Flee the very appearance of evil.

We become accustomed to the proximity of sin in our day-to-day activities. Watching television and surfing the internet, we can run across something that we know is wrong. Do we switch the channel or close the browser fast enough? Someone offends us and the offense either festers inside us or ... we could forgive and dismiss. It’s easy to drive faster than the speed limit – because we all know about the 10% above-the-speed-limit fudge factor and, besides, everyone does it. When a cashier gives back too much change, are we quick to point out the error? Or calmly walk away while pushing down the guilt that wells up inside? That gossiping co-worker attempts to draw us into a conversation that we know will go nowhere but downhill. How quickly do we extricate ourselves?

I Thessalonians 5:22 (Amp) says “Abstain from evil [shrink from it and keep aloof from it] in whatever form or whatever kind it may be.”

The enemy dresses up sin. Puts pretty flowers all over it to entice and beguile us. The alarms are going off inside our heads all day long. Have we gotten so accustomed to them that we let our guard down? Let us not forget: we are at war here. Let’s keep our spiritual eyes open and give wide berth to the traps laid in wait for us.

Our watchword is vigilance. We must stay on our toes every second.

All it takes is a momentary lapse to brush up next to the nettle.






4 comments:

  1. This is an awesome post, Kim. So TRUE! And just what I needed to be reminded of. Thanks for the encouragement!

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  2. Ugh...ya totally got me on the 10% over the speed limit one - ACK..."everyone else does it" too.

    Beautiful post, pic, message and messenger! And, I really hope and pray your ankle's feeling better soon too!

    LOVE YOU SIS!

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  3. Hi Kim! So nice to "meet" you. :)
    I loved what you wrote here: The enemy dresses up sin. Puts pretty flowers all over it to entice and beguile us. The alarms are going off inside our heads all day long. Have we gotten so accustomed to them that we let our guard down? Let us not forget: we are at war here. Let’s keep our spiritual eyes open and give wide berth to the traps laid in wait for us.

    There is so much truth in your whole post.

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  4. I love this post Kim...so much truth....the lengths the enemy will go to when he wants to entice someone....convincing that its okay. It reminds me of the saying that people expect Satan to show up at the front door w/ horns and a pitchfork, but how he often knocks on the back door wearing blue jeans and a smile. Great post.....we all need the reminder.

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