Don’t Leave the Screen Door Open

Land sakes, friend, shake the dust off your shoes and set yourself down by the window up on this ol’ front porch. Somebody left the pie coolin’ on the windowsill, the screen door’s plum standin’ wide open, and that’s about all the invitation a lil’ ol’ country fly, a nosy ol’ raccoon, or temptation ever needed. Some things don’t require an engraved invitation. Give ’em a lil’ ol’ crack in the door, and they’ll move in like they’ve been payin’ rent since Easter.

God sho’-nuff’ warned Cain about that very thing. In Genesis 4:7, He said, “Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”

Cain was angry. Anger itself wasn’t the end of the story. The danger was what he would downright allow that anger to become. Sin was waitin’ nearby like an ol’ barn cat crouched beside a lil’ mouse hole, patient, quiet, and ready.

We’re sho’-nuff’ vulnerable, too, sometimes when we least expect it. After a spiritual victory, we can start to struttin’ around like an ol’ Banty rooster that plum thinks sunrise happened because he crowed. That’s why 1 Corinthians 10:12 warns us, “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!”

And here’s another truth worth fastenin’ to the doorpost. Romans 13:14 tells us to “clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.”

Victory over sin isn’t mostly about grittin’ our teeth harder. It’s about stayin’ real close to Jesus.

Temptation may come knockin’, but you don’t have to invite it in, pour it sweet tea, and offer it the recliner.

Father, keep my heart alert to the places where temptation tries to enter. Show me where I have grown careless or overly confident. Fill me with Your strength, guard my thoughts, and help me choose obedience before sin gains a foothold. Keep me close to Jesus, the One that has already conquered sin. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Now, latch that spiritual screen door of yours before you head on back down the road, friend. A lil’ ol’ fox don’t need the whole henhouse opened, just one lil’ ol’ loose board. Don’t underestimate little compromises. Stay near Jesus, keep your heart guarded, and remember that sin may git to crouchin’ at the door, but it sho’-nuff’ don’t own the house.

With joy,

Gwen