Moles

I have been waking up to interesting piles of dirt in my backyard lately.  After some very extensive research (Google and Youtube), I have discovered that I am under attack by a mole infestation.  I have named this mole, "Morocco."  I, with the help of my dog, attempted to dig up the culprit, but alas, we were unsuccessful.

As Biscuit (my dog) and I were digging up my yard, I began to think to myself how moles work (I also began to think that this was probably a very bad habit to be teaching my dog).  First, they like to remain hidden.  Second, even though they are hidden, you can see the effects of their existence, and third, eventually, they will destroy your yard.  This got me thinking about sin, and how it has the same effects on our lives.

Ephesians 5:11-12 says, "Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret" (NASB).

The context of this verse is preceded by a discourse on how Christians ought not to act, or better, of attitudes and emotions that we should not participate in.  Some of these include immorality, greed, and coarse jesting (bad jokes).  Paul even goes as far to say, "there must be no silly talk [among you]" (Eph. 5:4).  His overall agenda is to promote the idea that we should be "imitators of God" (Eph. 5:1).

Ephesians 5 resounds the same elements that I witnessed in my yard yesterday.  First, the perpetrator (Morocco) is hidden.  He remains in the dark.  Paul says, "do not participate in the deeds of darkness...the things done in secret."  Moles like to come out at nighttime.  It is rare to see them out during the day.  Like sin, all of their destruction is caused in the dark.  My father-in-law is a volunteer police officer for the Kaufman County Police Dept.  I have often heard him say, "Nothing good happens after 11' o clock at night."  Sin thrives in the darkness. 

Second, even though I could not see Morocco, I could see his effects.  Paul says, "but immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper for saints" (Eph. 5:3).  The idea here is that sin always has a way of producing negative fruit.  When sin lies deep within your heart, effects such as immorality, impurity, and greed will begin to manifest themselves as products of wrath, hoping to destroy you.

Third, sin will ultimately destroy you.  Paul says in Ephesians 5:5, "For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God."  I think that not inheriting the kingdom is the worst punishment that one could ever bear.  It is the epitome of destruction.  Like a mole who kills a yard, if your sin is not found out, it will eventually kill you.  Death only has victory apart from Christ.  "Death is swallowed up in victory.  O death, where is your cictory? O death, where is your sting?" (1 Cor. 15:54-55)

The idea of the devotion this morning is, "root out your sin, before your sin roots out you."  Numbers 32:23 says, "be sure [that] your sin will find you out."  If I do not find Morocco, who is the root of the problem in my yard, the problem will never be fixed.  Up until yesterday, when I saw a pile of dirt, I would simply spread it out, making it appear as if it never was there.  Many times, this is exactly what we do with our sin.  We know that it is there somewhere, but instead of rooting it out, we spread out the dirt to make it appear like everything is okay, when in fact our sin is still under there somewhere.

Yesterday, I didn't find the mole in my ground.  I wish I did, because then this devotion would be more impacting.  But let's pretend for a moment that I did.  I dug up my yard, found the tunnel (which I did), and found the mole (which I didn't).  Obviously, the yard looks a little worse than it did beforehand.  The picture above illustrates that.  The difference is, however, that eventually the grass will begin to grow here again.  In a few weeks or months, you will not even be able tell that there even was a mole.  This is because I was able to find the problem out at its root.  If I don't find the root, however, I can theoretically keep spreading out the dirt to make it appear as if everything is okay.  Eventually though, all of my grass will be dead, and my yard will become a wasteland.  I truly believe that this is what happens to us if we do not attack sin at its root.

Ephesians 5:13 says, "But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light."  Sin thrives in darkness.  Jesus is the light that exposes this darkness.  Isaiah 9:2 says, "The people who walk in darkness will see a great light."  Through Jesus our sin can be "rooted out."  Salvation in Him is where our freedom comes and then it is only through Him that we overcome the moles that happen to arise.  I encourage everyone today to root out the sin in their life before it roots you.  Do this through Jesus.

If you are struggling with a sin and you need help rooting it out, here are some helpful tools that I would recommend:

1) SettingCaptivesFree.com - A free website designed to help you with specific sins.
2) T.A.G. or an accountability group of some sort - T.A.G. is our bi-weekly accountability group.
3) Accountability Partner/Pastor - I always encourage people to find at least one person that they trust to open up too.  Sin is best destroyed when it is exposed.