A Lousy Situation

Last year, I had my first experience with every parent’s nightmare….Lice. If you’ve never had to deal with this problem, consider yourself highly blessed and favored! Millions of school aged children catch lice every year. And, the treatment is time consuming and tedious. First, you must wash the child’s hair with a special, medicated shampoo. Then, every day for a week you have to use a very fine-toothed comb to remove all of the nits or eggs from the hair.

You also have to go over your home with a fine-toothed comb…washing all bedding and clothing that the person may have come in contact with in very hot water. Carpet and other upholstered items must be vacuumed and things that cannot be washed must be sealed in a plastic bag for 2 weeks. All of this is done to make sure that none of these nits are allowed to mature in to live lice. If they do, they will quickly reproduce and, once again, you’ll have a lice infestation.

Is your head itching yet? Sorry. But, I wanted to share this experience because it reminded me of the way we need to deal with sin in our lives. Think of it like this…sinful behavior, especially when becomes a pattern or a habit, is like lice. It can quickly multiply and become out of control! The first step is to stop the sinful behavior. But, it doesn’t end there because there are so-called “nits” all over the place that you have to get rid of, too. You have to go over your life with a fine-toothed comb, getting rid of the thoughts, people, places and influences that could cause a sin re-infestation.

It’s not easy get out of a sinful pattern of behavior. But, here’s some great news…you have help! Listen to these words of encouragement from 1 Cor. 10:13 - NLT But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you will not give into it.

So, Let’s pray today that God will help us run that fine toothed comb over our lives, praising him for his loving faithfulness as He helps us eliminate out harmful behaviors.