“There she is!” my wife hissed, “Kill her!” I grabbed my 22 caliber rifle and put the thief’s head directly in my sights. She didn’t realize I was there and I was too close to miss. She was a repeat offender. This is the 3rd time we had caught her, or one of her thieving clan, on our property in less than a week. I was going to end this once and for all.
I let out my breath and started to squeeze the trigger. Then I saw her small child only a few feet away from her. Could I shoot the mother in front of her child? Could I possibly make this youngster an orphan? I hesitated on the trigger. Then she hopped off and went under the woodpile.
That was two or three years ago. My wife had planted a big garden but was furious with a family of rabbits that had turned her labor into a smorgasbord. The event described above happened in the early summer. For the rest of the growing season that rabbit family devastated the garden and my wife almost daily reminded me that I froze when I could have killed one of them.
Sin wreaks havoc in our life just as those rabbits wreaked havoc in the garden. It steals our fruit and limits our harvest. It tears down new growth before it can get a good start. Because sin is so destructive in our life Colossians 3:5 tells us to put our sin nature to death.
We should be ruthless with our sin nature. We should choke it off every time it raises its ugly head. Yet, often when the time comes, we find we don’t want to. Like I did in the story above, we hesitate and justify reasons to let it live. Despite its destructive nature, it can be endearing at times. At least until you see the damage it does.
In many ways our sin nature is a zombie. Romans 6:6 tells us that our sin nature (old man) was crucified, or killed, with Christ. Yet like a zombie it keeps trying to reanimate itself. Zombies may have some living features but they are dead and rotting. Our sin nature is death. We cannot allow it to drag us down into the grave with it.
When sin rises up inside us we must kill it immediately. If we hesitate we risk being ensnared. Kill it before it kills you! It is an ongoing process but the more one does it the easier and more habitual it gets. Likewise, the more you entertain sin the easier it is to do it.
Lord, thank You for giving me new life. Empower me with the strength and courage needed to daily kill the sin that threatens to steal my life and destroy my fruit.