Ignoring the Problem

   Once I walked up to my room and I saw something very scary. It was tiny, black, and buzzing right toward me. I ducked then proceeded to calmly scream. After that I ran out of the room forgetting why I even went in there in the first place.

   I figured that the wasp had gotten through a hole where my air conditioner was in my window. That's why I thought that the wasp would just leave when it realized there wasn't any food in my room.

   I went upstairs that night to go to bed. That's when I saw it: a small wasp nest was up in the corner of my room. I peered in the tiny hole and I didn't see anything. I figured that the wasp built the nest and just left. I didn't want to touch it in case there was a wasp in there that I didn't see; so I left it there.

   The next day I went to go in my room again, and again I saw the wasp and the wasp nest. The only difference is the nest was bigger. That's when I realized my mistake. Because I ignored the nest, it got bigger. Long story short: one day I went upstairs with a fly swatter, found the wasp, killed it, and got rid of the nest.

   This experience taught me a lesson: if you ignore the problem many times it doesn't go away, it just gets worse. If I would have continued to ignore the nest, it would have gotten bigger and more wasps would have joined the nest. It is the same way with other problems and sin. If we ignore the sin in our lives it will just get bigger and worse. If we ignore a problem it will get bigger and worse.

   Ephesians 4:22 says: "So get rid of your old self, which made you live as you used to - the old self that was being destroyed by its deceitful desires." We are to try not to sin when we become Christians. Will we still sin? Yes, we are not perfect and God knows this. That's why he sent Jesus to be a sacrifice for us. Yet, we are to try to follow Jesus. That means we are to do the right thing because we know what the right thing is.

   Along those lines, if we know the right thing and we keep sinning then we are just letting the wasp nest grow bigger. Hebrews 10:26-27 says "For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries." We know what is right. Because we know what is right, we are required to do our best to do what is right. We cannot keep going back to our sin, or ignore certain parts of our lives where we know we are sinning.

   Which leads me to my final point: if we know someone is sinning and we don't keep them accountable that's a problem too. Galatians 6:1-2 says "Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." We have a responsibility to keep each other accountable. Now that doesn't mean if someone is sinning we go to them and scream at them. We can go to them in love. We need to think about what we are going to say; and show we are saying this because we care about them.

   So, do you have a wasp's nest you are ignoring in your life? What can you do to get rid of that problem today? Do you know someone who has a problem that you can help with? What can you do to help someone today?
   Image from here.