READ: 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22
We have a bunny in the garden. Now some people may think, “Cute little bunny, what harm can it do?” The bunny LOVES baby green beans. Last year, the bunny ate 16 feet of pole beans. We don’t see her, but she is there; she eats when we aren’t looking. Last year we replanted the beans four times before we could get a mature row of beans. Tim and I are confident this bunny has told her friends and is bringing her 37 cousins to our garden this year! Our problem is how to keep the bunnies ‘outside’ the garden fence. Christians have the same problem, how to keep predators on the ‘outside’ of their souls. Some of these predators to our souls seem harmless and cute, and some of these predators are so well hidden we don’t even see them. We just know they have been present by the harm they do. Predators to our souls are hidden in TV shows and magazine ads, in movies, and in conversation. God tells us to be on guard against evil. And, if we don’t rid our life of these ‘seemingly harmless predators,’ we will soon look up and realize they have been joined by more predators and wreaked havoc on the life of Christ growing in you.
We have a bunny in the garden. Now some people may think, “Cute little bunny, what harm can it do?” The bunny LOVES baby green beans. Last year, the bunny ate 16 feet of pole beans. We don’t see her, but she is there; she eats when we aren’t looking. Last year we replanted the beans four times before we could get a mature row of beans. Tim and I are confident this bunny has told her friends and is bringing her 37 cousins to our garden this year! Our problem is how to keep the bunnies ‘outside’ the garden fence. Christians have the same problem, how to keep predators on the ‘outside’ of their souls. Some of these predators to our souls seem harmless and cute, and some of these predators are so well hidden we don’t even see them. We just know they have been present by the harm they do. Predators to our souls are hidden in TV shows and magazine ads, in movies, and in conversation. God tells us to be on guard against evil. And, if we don’t rid our life of these ‘seemingly harmless predators,’ we will soon look up and realize they have been joined by more predators and wreaked havoc on the life of Christ growing in you.
– Virginia Thompson