A few mornings back Keith and I took our last cup of coffee to the carport and sat in our nylon lounge chairs, the kind with the attached pillow you can flip over the back if you do not care to use it. We did use them, both of us, and leaned back, watching the mockingbird flit back and forth to its nest in the bloom-laden rose trellis and the hummingbirds guard their two feeders like Fort Knox. A couple of squirrels ran along the “highway,” a route they use every day from one live oak top to another, down the limbs and across the fence. Off in the distance a hawk screamed, a rooster crowed, and a wild turkey gobbled. Occasionally we flipped a treat out for Chloe to chase. It was still the middle of spring, cool and bugless, humidity low for a Florida morning, low enough that the scent of jasmine reached us from the vine 75 feet down the drive.
After twenty minutes or so, we got up to start our morning. As soon as Keith stood, a snake slithered out from under his pillow, down the back of the chair and dropped onto the carport. Our chairs are only six inches apart. If that thing had stuck its head out between us from under the pillow, judging by the roar when he saw it, Keith might have had a heart attack, and I might still be running. Talk about “Flight Paths”—I would have made a good one.
Guess what we do every morning now? That’s right. We flip those pillows back and look under them before we sit down. People say habits are hard to break. We didn’t have a bit of trouble breaking ourselves of sitting down before we looked. Depends upon the motivation, I guess. Maybe that’s why we have such a hard time breaking ourselves of sinful habits—we enjoy them too much, or we just don’t think they are that important.
From another perspective, we didn’t have a bit of trouble creating a new habit either. Same reason—motivation. I really do not want to think about a snake lying under the pillow I am leaning my head against, or the possibility of it slithering down my back, do you?
So why can’t we make new habits to rid ourselves of that besetting sin in our lives? Can’t I learn to pray for self-control before I leave the house when I know I have trouble behind the wheel? Can’t I learn to recite a few passages about longsuffering and kindness just before I walk into a meeting with that particularly obnoxious colleague? Can’t I learn to avoid situations that I know will tempt me instead of purposefully putting my soul in harm’s way? Of course I can, if I care enough, if I believe God would want me to do so, if I think of Him instead of me and my stubborn will.
AND, if I believe that Satan is real, that he is out there trying to find a way to make me fall. He is, you know. He is right under that pillow, waiting for you to sit down without a care in the world and lean your vulnerable neck back into reach of his fangs.
Change a habit today. LOOK! before you sit down.
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. Rom 13:14
Dene Ward
After twenty minutes or so, we got up to start our morning. As soon as Keith stood, a snake slithered out from under his pillow, down the back of the chair and dropped onto the carport. Our chairs are only six inches apart. If that thing had stuck its head out between us from under the pillow, judging by the roar when he saw it, Keith might have had a heart attack, and I might still be running. Talk about “Flight Paths”—I would have made a good one.
Guess what we do every morning now? That’s right. We flip those pillows back and look under them before we sit down. People say habits are hard to break. We didn’t have a bit of trouble breaking ourselves of sitting down before we looked. Depends upon the motivation, I guess. Maybe that’s why we have such a hard time breaking ourselves of sinful habits—we enjoy them too much, or we just don’t think they are that important.
From another perspective, we didn’t have a bit of trouble creating a new habit either. Same reason—motivation. I really do not want to think about a snake lying under the pillow I am leaning my head against, or the possibility of it slithering down my back, do you?
So why can’t we make new habits to rid ourselves of that besetting sin in our lives? Can’t I learn to pray for self-control before I leave the house when I know I have trouble behind the wheel? Can’t I learn to recite a few passages about longsuffering and kindness just before I walk into a meeting with that particularly obnoxious colleague? Can’t I learn to avoid situations that I know will tempt me instead of purposefully putting my soul in harm’s way? Of course I can, if I care enough, if I believe God would want me to do so, if I think of Him instead of me and my stubborn will.
AND, if I believe that Satan is real, that he is out there trying to find a way to make me fall. He is, you know. He is right under that pillow, waiting for you to sit down without a care in the world and lean your vulnerable neck back into reach of his fangs.
Change a habit today. LOOK! before you sit down.
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. Rom 13:14
Dene Ward
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