House destroyed
In St Louis in 1984 an unemployed cleaning woman noticed a few bees buzzing around the attic of her home. Since she only saw a few bees, she made no attempt to deal with them, thinking them harmless. Throughout the summer months the bees continued to fly in and out of the attic vent while the woman remained unconcerned and unaware of the growing city of bees.
Near the end of summer the whole attic had become a hive and it wasn’t long before the ceiling of the second floor bedroom caved in under the weight of hundreds of pounds of honey and thousands of bees. While the woman recovered from what could have been fatal injuries, she was unable to repair the damage of her accumulated neglect and the house was demolished.
We have to be on guard against the effect of gradual, cumulative sin in our lives.
sin separates us from God
Unacknowledged and unrepented sin accumulates and grows until it has a stronghold and we are bound by our sin.
Fellowship with God is impossible, because our sin separates us from God. Isaiah 59:2
Of our own selves we are hopeless, but praise God, He will never let us go. He will draw us back to Himself, but the process will possibly be painful for us. As soon as we repent, fellowship is restored.
We need to keep short accounts with God.
# Don’t trifle with sin: sin is no trifle!
# Sin always ruins where it reigns.
# The sins we excuse will return to accuse.
# If you don’t want to trade with the devil, stay out of his shops.
# Sin enters like a needle and spreads like an oak tree.
# One cherished sin will make way for all others.
# Sin cannot be reduced to manageable proportions.
MEETING IN THE CLOUDS 
Great story and great application! Thanks for the reminder!
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Good illustration from real life, but how far short we come when it comes to keeping short accounts! Our sins always seem so minor compared to Mrs X or Mr Y, or the weird person who lives next door.
Maybe this is one area where The Catholic faith can teach the Protestant profession a few tricks?
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There is always a danger when we compare our sins – or our “goodness” or our anything – with others. We only have ONE standard and when we use THAT standard we have no excuse! I have to agree with you though, that we always fall far too short!
As to the Catholic faith, it didn’t teach me anything.
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May GOD Bless!!! Mark
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Thankfully, His blessings never cease.
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You are so right, when we allow small sins to accumulate in our lives, without dealing with them, they will snow ball and eventually destroy the testimony for the Lord.
Just like the Lord warned us through Solomon… if we are not careful, the little foxes can destroy our entire spiritual harvest…
Song 2:15 “Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines [have] tender grapes.”
Thanks for a timely warning. May the Lord continue to bless you.
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The little foxes was one thought I had in mind when writing this. I was also thinking of the downward path of sin in James 1:15 – “When lust is conceived it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full blown, brings forth death” Sin loves company and will very quickly produce more sins when tolerated in the life (spreads like an oak tree)
I have been thinking lately of how “things” have changed since the 60’s – 70’s. Things that were considered taboo for the Christian are now tolerated, excused and enjoyed. Maybe we need to take a backward step sometimes?
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I enjoyed this post. The Bible tells us in Romans 6:12, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Quite a few years ago, every once in a while, a friend of ours would visit the church. She was a psalmist as well as a musician. Each time she visited, she would be called upon to sing. The only song I remember her singing was titled, “Don’t Let the Devil Ride.” I’ve never heard anyone else sing this song. Some of the lyrics are, don’t let the devil ride, because if you let him ride he’ll want to drive, don’t let him ride. If he rides with you, he’ll tell you what to do, don’t let him ride. Don’t let him flag you down, because if he flags you down, he’ll turn your soul around, don’t let him ride..I said that to say this. Give no place to the devil, because once he gets in, he will definitely try to reign in, and rule your life, which ultimately leads to spiritual ruin! So close all windows, and lock the doors! Just don’t let him ride! God bless you!
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I’ve never heard that song but I like the words. Thank you for sharing it. It is so true that if we give him an inch he’ll very quickly take a mile – and it won’t take him long to have control.
Thankfully – sooooooooooo thankfully – “Greater is He who is in you, than he that is in the world” 1 John 4:4 We really must hate sin, resist the devil and his temptations and flee from them. We can’t do this in our own strength, but unlimited power is available when we allow our King to sit on His throne.
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Amen and amen. Once again, a great reminder and a wonderful encouragement.
Great post. Thank you for it.
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We serve an awesome God whose power is ALWAYS available. Without Him we would be completely defeated but we are “more than conquerors” through Him.
Thanks Heather Joy
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