ants ...

why is it that the smallest things in life are often the greatest source of annoyance?

this afternoon was far too nice for me not to spend at least part of it sitting outside. so after church i set up camp in the shade under a tree with a blanket, some lunch, and my Bible study, thoroughly enjoying the fact that i wasn’t melting after 5 minutes flat. not surprisingly, it didn’t take long for the ants to discover my presence.

there were three types that took up residence on my blanket (not that i blame them - it was i invading their territory, after all): miniscule black ones, regular everyday ones, and larger reddish brown ones. the latter two proved completely harmless, but it was the smallest ones that quickly became a persistent problem. those tiny buggers could deliver some pretty painful bites. and they were everywhere. before i knew it, they had managed to find the one little opening in my lunch bag and completely overtake it. writing this hours later in a leather chair at starbuck’s, even after changing pants, i’m still finding them crawling on me. i can’t wait to get home and into the shower ... YUCK!

and so it is with sin. how often do we worry about the regular everyday ones, and the larger more evil looking ones. but we overlook the little ones. unfortunately, they are the ones that can pack the most painful punch. they are the ones that find the smallest area of weakness in our lives and completely take over when we’re not looking. and they are the ones that hang on even after we’ve left the environment and made changes to our lives. they are the ones that we can’t remove with any efforts of our own, but only with the cleansing blood of Jesus.

purify me from my sins, and i will be clean; wash me, and i will be whiter than snow. (psalm 51:7)

today in church, pastor steve talked about the story of Jesus clearing the temple from john 2. according to 1 corinthians 6:19, our bodies are now the temple of the Holy Spirit. in the same way that Jesus was committed to the temple being in order, God longs for our lives to be aligned with His perfect will and loves us enough to clear out whatever it takes for that to happen.

what are the pesky little sins in your life that need to be removed by the righteous power of God? He wants to wash them away with His purifying grace so you can be completely free from their pain and annoyance. and His purification is the best bug-repellant you can find :)