March 9, 2012

March 9, 2012

Beware the little ants!

Now I know in Scripture the warning is to the little foxes that come by night and eat the grapes, well here in the tropics it is ants. They are so small that without my glasses on I cannot really see them except for their movement. But they love the kitchen and the deck

Outside on the deck, where we eat, we have to sweep a couple times a day because the ants will swarm over the tiniest crumb or drop of water. For the most part that is manageable.

But the kitchen is another matter. Before I start to prepare a meal, I must first check for these ants. Like I said they are tiny, so I don’t always see them at first. There is usually a couple. So I wash them off and proceed to make whatever it is I came to make.

I usually hand David his food and then wash whatever utensils were used in the prep before I take my food and join David on the deck. I have tried to eat first and then wash everything together but that means I will come back to hundreds of the little buggers.

Today I followed my normal routine but had not wiped off the counter completely. I returned to find about a 6 inch square of the counter just crammed full of the ants with a couple of trails of more coming to join the party.

By this time I don’t freak…I just grab the sponge and begin to exterminate and wash them into the sink and t=down the drain. I then finish the dishes.

But it got me to thinking about our “little” sins or bad habits. How we cannot let them fo for even one second. We need to stop whatever we are doing and take care of them right then. Now if I see one of those tiny ants I either hit it with something or just squarsh it with my hand. I refuse to let these little critters rule my life…I will deal with them as they come along.

Now to make the analogy:

When we are first saved we are surprised by the fact we still sin. We somehow think we should be suddenly perfect.

When David first discovered the ants on the deck He did not know what in the world was the little things crawling around. But here he was stomping and smacking and just dancing all over the place. It was so funny looking that I nearly fell out of the hammock laughing. But when I found out how persistent they were the laughter stopped and war began.

We cannot tolerate even a little sin…repentance needs to come right away.

One ant means hundreds are waiting ..must kill the kill the scout. Same with sin!

It is an ongoing war…can never say…this little one won’t matter.

Clean…kill…rinse and repeat!!

Do not indulge in any type of activity that will feed the ants or sin/