Ants! Ants! Ants!

ANTS! ANTS! ANTS!
Current mood: amused
Category: Religion and Philosophy

2 Corinthians 10:5
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

When you become a homeowner-- at least one that desires to have a front yard that is not an embarassment to the neighborhood, one of the tedious chores bequethed at the close of escrow is the watering of one's grass and plants. It's really a simple equation: water + plants= a living plant! Normally, I enjoy the task-- I just get to stand there, moving on occasion, and let my mind space out. However, like every job, there is always one or two vexations that diminish one's pleasure. The problem with watering is that invariably at some point I will have ants coursing up my leg-- a very unpleasant sensation at best! So I find myself hosing them off here and there, thinking that's the end of it.

But it never is.

For hours after watering, all of a sudden I will have that creepy feeling on my neck-- you know, the one where you know some freaky bug is crawling on you-- and I will have to slap my neck to end some insect's reign of terror on my nerves... and it's AN ANT!!! I'm thinking, "It's been TWO HOURS! Where has this ant been and what has he been up to?" Regardless of the answer to these plaguing questions, my intial reaction is DEATH TO THE ANT! There is no consideration to its life, no entertaining saving it, no mercy whatsoever. The stray ant is in violation my space and must pay with its life.

This reminds me of 2 Corinthians 10:5 and how it relates to our thoughtlife. As Christians, whenever we find ourselves in sin, seldom have we arrived at that point without first entertaining thoughts of sinning and coming to a decision to disobey God. This scripture uses phrasing that indicates serious action: take every thought captive. In no way is taking anyone or anything captive a docile, mild, or innocuous move: It indicates seizure, force, and sometimes even violence. See, part of surrending your life to Christ and making Him your Lord, is submitting even our very thoughts in obedience. That doesn't mean that Christians give up their right to think; on the contrary, following Christ calls us to think even more! We are to examine and consider our thoughts in the light of a holy, righteous, and pure God. And when we have thoughts that are not true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy-- we are to seize them, control them, subdue them, and give them over to Jesus. Evil thoughts should be like those ants. We know they are out there, and we don't know when they are going to show up and start crawling around, but when they do, our actions are to be determined, resolute, and final-- and we must squash those thoughts which dishonor God like a bug!

But how often are we like my two-year-old son when it comes to the ants? When he has been outside with me, he has come across swarming ants that are frantically reacting to my watering and simply stood there watching them. I will find him covered with ants, crawling even in his hair, with the only remedy being a serious blasting with the hose as well as a stern warning to keep away. However, even then he will return to them, pointing and saying, "BUG!" as though there is no danger at all. Are we that way when it comes to how our thoughts can dishonor God? Do we entertain them? Consider them? Allow them to run rampant in our brains, planting the seeds for sin that will threaten our closeness to God and possibly effect our witness for Christ?

My encouragement to you today is to seize those thoughts that you know don't honor God-- like squishing the ants that randomly show up-- so that as Christians we think more and more like Jesus.