Devotions

Remove It Already! :: Deeper Devotion

Remove It Already!

August 5, 2008

By Glenn Ansley

1 Corinthians 15:56, 57
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Kristie and I had the windows open last Saturday to usher the fall weather into our house. It was one of those days when the air is so crisp you can smell it. Along with our windows, we opened up the door to our patio. I was working on the computer in a pair of old jeans with a hole in the knee. I’m not exactly sure how the yellowjacket found its way inside my jeans, but it did. And it stung me right below the knee on the inside of my left leg. (This wasn’t something I enjoyed). For next two days I continually nursed my wound with several different ointments.

Last night, after gawking at the still inflamed area around my wound, Kristie took a needle and a pair of tweezers to my leg and extracted the stinger left behind by my little friend. All the ointment in the world wasn’t going to soothe the pain as long as I still had the stinger under my skin.

Treating the symptom never neutralizes the source of your problem. This seems simple enough to understand, but then again, I’m the one who walked around with a stinger in my leg for an entire weekend. We do this sort of thing more often than you probably realize. In a moment of weakness, we drop our spiritual shields and one of Satan’s flaming arrows catches us off guard. Instead of removing the foreign vessel from our bodies, we try to cover it up with anything that will help it to “feel better.”

I wonder what type of “stinger” has gotten beneath your flesh this week… this month? Have you grown weary of trying to sooth the pain yet? I challenge you to give it up. Ask the Lord to remove it for you. There was a fair bit of pain involved in the extraction process of my stinger too, but the lasting result is sure to be better than your current situation. Stop treating your symptoms and remove the source before it spreads.

One more thing: After you’ve removed your sin, take my advice and shut the patio door.


Related Posts:

One Response to “Remove It Already!”

  1. casey Says:

    this is a great point, thanks for sharing.

Comments Feed

Leave a Reply



Articles

I Ate My Love Letter (When Crushes Crush You)

April 11, 2008

It's so easy to crush. But is it right? Jeremy Smith shares about his high school crush and what he's learned.

underoath

From the Archives

Jason Morant (Abandon)

“Jason Morant, leading you to a place of Abandon.” Read Todd Kavanaugh’s review of Jason Morant’s latest album, Abandon.

Read all previous Articles.

Articles RSS Feed

Recent Comments

Trial Marriages?
Aug 31, 2008 @ 06:01 am
6 Comments

What if I am Being Abused?
Aug 31, 2008 @ 11:34 am
8 Comments

Being Honest with Others
Aug 31, 2008 @ 09:59 pm
5 Comments

What’s Your Excuse?
Aug 31, 2008 @ 01:32 pm
3 Comments

What Does the Bible Say About Sex?
Aug 31, 2008 @ 06:57 am
42 Comments