The Squirrel
My dog and I were witnesses to the funniest sight the
other day: A squirrel, running in place!
We were just recovering from a 15 cm snow fall the day, and it was -20° C.
The roads hadn't been cleared yet, and anyone who's run in ankle-deep snow
knows that it is equivalent to running on the beach. After two kilometers of
slipping and sliding, I had had enough. I decided to take the short cut
home.
It was just as we rounded the corner to turn back that we saw the squirrel,
sitting calming in the snow. He must have seen us at about the same time,
because he instantly dropped what he was eating, pointed his nose straight
at the oak tree 10 m away, and began to run-in place!
Quite obviously the deep snow was causing problems for even the small
creatures of nature!
I don't know how much energy that poor squirrel used up during those brief
seconds, but you could almost read the determination on his face as he
slowly and gradually began to advance, centimeter by centimeter, his eyes
never leaving that oak tree.
Fortunately for the squirrel my dog was leashed, and he was never in any
real danger, but he looked so funny running in place that I did have a good
laugh at his expense!
The incident also made me think. The squirrel was in trouble because,
although he had his eye fixed on the tree, he was not IN the tree. He had
left his safe tower and was walking in snow!
As Christians in our walk through life, we are little different from that
squirrel. We are aware of the traps of the enemy, and many of us at least
attempt to flee them. And just like that squirrel's eyes never left the
tree, we often do, at this stage in temptation, shift our eyes to Jesus! But
we aren't IN the "tree"! We haven't ever made Jesus the centre of our lives,
of everything we do! And when we try to run back to Him, it often feels like
our feet are bound!
The writer of Hebrews describes the feeling very explicitly when he says,
"… the sin that so easily entangles us …" (Heb. 12:1b). You see, just as
the squirrel couldn't find any footing in the deep snow, our feet are often
tangled up in our pet sins, in our worldly ways! We are tangled up in
ourselves! And just as the squirrel couldn't make any headway in the snow
due to lack of footing, neither can we run from temptation!
Is it any wonder that so many Christians fall into immorality? That the
divorce rate among Christians is as high as that of the world? That
addictions rampage among fellow believers?
There is only one solution: You can ask Jesus to help you follow the advice
of the writer of Hebrews: "… put off EVERYTHING that hinders and the sin
that so easily entangles us, keeping our eyes fixed upon Jesus, the Author
and the Finisher of our faith …" (Heb. 12:1-2). You need to make JESUS
the centre of your life, friends, the centre of everything you do! You need
to allow HIM to be the focus of your world! As you do, you will be made
aware of the pet sins that continue to entangle you, and with His strength,
you WILL be victorious. You will also begin to despise the old self, the
self that is completely filled with you. In fact, you'll reach the point
where you won't ever WANT to leave the "tree"-Jesus Christ!
In His love, Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Mother of two
teens, Author and Moderator for The Nugget, a tri-weekly internet
newsletter, and Scriptural Nuggets, a website devoted to Christian
devotionals and inspirational poems,
www.scripturalnuggets.org
, with Answers2Prayer Ministries,
www.Answers2Prayer.org .