Taming of the Squirrels
When I was in college at OSU there were squirrels everywhere. The problem was with those squirrels is many of them living so close to a bunch of college kids meant that they became very “tame.” They would scamper up within inches of you when you were trying to walk. They were so close I know that to some people used to pet them. They would dig through the garbage and not move no matter how close you were to them. I realize to many this didn’t and doesn’t seem like a big deal, but bottom line it doesn’t matter how tame those animals got, their still wild animals. They can turn on a dime. You can’t tame a wild animal and not realize that you’re playing with fire.
Many people treat sin and demonic activity like that. They think that they can be tamed. They think that the demons that hang around and try to mess with them are harmless. They think their okay. I remember the dear late Pastor Arthur Lee once told me that they’d cast many devils out of a woman once and she came back to them a few days later because she missed her “friends”. She couldn’t handle the freedom. She wanted them back because she thought they were her “friends.”
You can’t tame sin. Sin is sin no matter how cute it may look. A demon is a demon no matter how much you try to tell yourself its not.
1 Corinthians 5:6 (The Message) says, “Your flip and callous arrogance in these things bothers me. You pass it off as a small thing, but it's anything but that. Yeast, too, is a "small thing," but it works its way through a whole batch of bread dough pretty fast. So get rid of this "yeast." Our true identity is flat and plain, not puffed up with the wrong kind of ingredient. The Messiah, our Passover Lamb, has already been sacrificed for the Passover meal, and we are the Unraised Bread part of the Feast. So let's live out our part in the Feast, not as raised bread swollen with the yeast of evil, but as flat bread—simple, genuine, unpretentious.”
So often we try to justify to ourselves that just doing a little sin isn’t that big of a deal. (As I say this, I realize I’m preaching to myself too.) What happened to our fear of the Lord? A little sin is not okay. Messing around with a “little” demon is not okay. No matter how long I try to “tame” a squirrel it’s still a squirrel! We MUST stop trying to “pet” our sins and start getting rid of them. All around it’s like we as Christians trample all over the blood of Jesus and think nothing of it. We justify to ourselves that we can go ahead and do what we want and it’s okay because we can repent later. We have to stop this mentality folks! We have to start loving the Lord so much that it’s not okay! Just as the scripture above talks about a little bit of yeast will affect the entire loaf. It’s the same way here. The Bible uses yeast as a symbol of sin and pride throughout the Word. A little bit of sin affects all of you! God will have mercy on you yes, but it’s not worth it.
Psalm 24:3-6 (NKJ) says, “Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD?
Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the LORD, And righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face. Selah”
None of us are perfect. We’ve all fallen short. It’s okay when we mess up that we pray and ask God to forgive us and move on. But what I’m addressing is this concept that we can do whatever we want and then say that’s okay. The squirrels in our lives can’t be “tamed”. We have to leave them at the alter and realize if we’re going to move forward and closer to the Lord then we have to live our lives pure and holy before the Lord. We have to live our lives on purpose for His purpose. Even if a sin seems small in our eyes, it’s not in God’s eyes.
If you fall get up! If you mess up repent and move on! (Proverbs 24:16) But don’t tame yourself to think that it’s an excuse. God loves you! He has such awesome plans for your life. But we have to get disgusted with sin. We have to not want even the smallest bit in our lives. We have to realize that the “squirrels” can’t be tamed, so we have to stop trying. Do you really think your excuses will matter on the day that you stand before God and give an account for your life? Move forward with God today. He loves you and is excited about you!
Many people treat sin and demonic activity like that. They think that they can be tamed. They think that the demons that hang around and try to mess with them are harmless. They think their okay. I remember the dear late Pastor Arthur Lee once told me that they’d cast many devils out of a woman once and she came back to them a few days later because she missed her “friends”. She couldn’t handle the freedom. She wanted them back because she thought they were her “friends.”
You can’t tame sin. Sin is sin no matter how cute it may look. A demon is a demon no matter how much you try to tell yourself its not.
1 Corinthians 5:6 (The Message) says, “Your flip and callous arrogance in these things bothers me. You pass it off as a small thing, but it's anything but that. Yeast, too, is a "small thing," but it works its way through a whole batch of bread dough pretty fast. So get rid of this "yeast." Our true identity is flat and plain, not puffed up with the wrong kind of ingredient. The Messiah, our Passover Lamb, has already been sacrificed for the Passover meal, and we are the Unraised Bread part of the Feast. So let's live out our part in the Feast, not as raised bread swollen with the yeast of evil, but as flat bread—simple, genuine, unpretentious.”
So often we try to justify to ourselves that just doing a little sin isn’t that big of a deal. (As I say this, I realize I’m preaching to myself too.) What happened to our fear of the Lord? A little sin is not okay. Messing around with a “little” demon is not okay. No matter how long I try to “tame” a squirrel it’s still a squirrel! We MUST stop trying to “pet” our sins and start getting rid of them. All around it’s like we as Christians trample all over the blood of Jesus and think nothing of it. We justify to ourselves that we can go ahead and do what we want and it’s okay because we can repent later. We have to stop this mentality folks! We have to start loving the Lord so much that it’s not okay! Just as the scripture above talks about a little bit of yeast will affect the entire loaf. It’s the same way here. The Bible uses yeast as a symbol of sin and pride throughout the Word. A little bit of sin affects all of you! God will have mercy on you yes, but it’s not worth it.
Psalm 24:3-6 (NKJ) says, “Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD?
Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the LORD, And righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face. Selah”
None of us are perfect. We’ve all fallen short. It’s okay when we mess up that we pray and ask God to forgive us and move on. But what I’m addressing is this concept that we can do whatever we want and then say that’s okay. The squirrels in our lives can’t be “tamed”. We have to leave them at the alter and realize if we’re going to move forward and closer to the Lord then we have to live our lives pure and holy before the Lord. We have to live our lives on purpose for His purpose. Even if a sin seems small in our eyes, it’s not in God’s eyes.
If you fall get up! If you mess up repent and move on! (Proverbs 24:16) But don’t tame yourself to think that it’s an excuse. God loves you! He has such awesome plans for your life. But we have to get disgusted with sin. We have to not want even the smallest bit in our lives. We have to realize that the “squirrels” can’t be tamed, so we have to stop trying. Do you really think your excuses will matter on the day that you stand before God and give an account for your life? Move forward with God today. He loves you and is excited about you!
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