To True Beauty!

To True Beauty!

Last week I wrote about a disgusting encounter with maggots fueled by ignorance. There were a few items I did not mention in order to stay on topic. This week, as we say in Spanish, I am giving myself the “luxury” of delving into them.

First is the almost incredible fact that because we had cared for our pet “caterpillars” that were not in fact caterpillars but rather maggots, providing them with a secure habitat in which to construct their cocoons, my son and I didn’t have the heart to kill the flies when they hatched. We were disappointed that they were not in fact butterflies, yet how could we kill something that we had cared for? It just wasn’t in us to do that.

The analogy is easy to make with regard to sin. When we entertain a seemingly innocuous sin in our lives, it grows on us. It becomes part of our life. Then, when the truth of its awfulness strikes us, it is excruciatingly hard to do a turn about and leave it behind.

Take the pastor I knew (gone on to his reward) who decided drinking was okay. Just a glass of wine with his meal. What could be wrong with that, right? Flash forward a few years and the glass of wine was now the whole bottle. (I know some of you think it’s okay to drink, but that’s not the issue here—the issue is that the pastor let the twisted thinking that comes from drinking dominate his actions—as to drinking itself, the stalwart men of God I have known, and those whom God has given me as my protectors, don’t, so I choose to “err”, if erring it is, on their side, the side of safety; whatever your view of the matter is, you do not answer to me but to God—take that way of living up with Him). So what happened? There was open sin in his staff members of an adulterous nature, but the pastor chose to ignore it (James 1:14-15). The “caterpillar” looked cute, looked like something worth having. The pastor bonded with the “caterpillar”, refusing to acknowledge that the caterpillar might, just might, be in reality a maggot, not realizing that one maggot calls to another until the whole body is infested. The end result? That one mistake entangled his thinking to such a degree that he found himself unable to take the actions necessary to rid the church he was over of the death and destruction brought on by the reality of unequivocal sin (Proverbs 23:31-33). Great damage was done to his integrity as a minister and the entire church suffered tremendously!

Second, flies feed on dung and carrion, thus carrying and passing on a long list of diseases. Doesn’t Scripture say, “the wages of sin is death”? There is nothing good to be gained by messing with flies.

Third, flies multiply profusely. In fact, just one single egg deposited in a body will result in an exponential infestation. While forensic experts can use this proliferation to determine time of death, the infestation will prohibit “viewings” of the deceased. Once infected, there is simply no way to get rid of the offensive creatures. In the spirit realm, this can only be done through the saving grace of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10).

There is a categorical reason why Beelzebub is one of the names given to the devil in the Bible. Its meaning? Lord of the Flies. Our enemy comes in as innocuously as possible, gains a strong hold on our emotions, and proliferates to such a degree that it is virtually impossible to be free from his grip in our own strength.

But God. The corrupted body might not be able to be “saved” from these invasive pests, but there is deliverance in Jesus from the sin that is their spiritual counterpart.

Unfortunately, there is a fourth “oopsie”. While Jesus will always, always welcome us with open arms and graciously bestow His forgiveness, there is a downside to continuing in messing with flies. Just like that maggot infestation, one sin calls to another, ending in a jumble of inter-tangled sins reflective of the lies described by Sir Walter Scott, “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive." One lie leads to another, just as one sin lays the groundwork for and segues into another; in time, this leads to a pretty dangerous problem.

The Apostle Paul put it this way. In Hebrews 3:12-13 he wrote, “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily … lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”

It is a wonderful true promise that if we confess our sins, the Lord loves us so much that regardless of the circumstances surrounding our fall from grace, He will forgive us (1 John 1:9). There is nothing that can detract from the glory of this great mercy from the hand of God. However... there’s a reason why Paul also wrote, “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient (1 Corinthians 6:12). The second half of that verse explains why: “all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.”

A minister I sat under put it this way. While the Lord is faithful to forgive us, every time we go through the process of confession and receiving forgiveness, it leaves a little scar on our spiritual heart. If we persist in continuing in sinful behavior with the attitude that, after all, God will forgive us, so why worry? Live like the devil, come to Jesus, and everything will once again be hunky-dory. Not. This is engaging in dangerous behavior that will eventually, by layering scar upon scar, harden our heart to the voice of God. No one knows where that exact point is and ministers have different opinions about the end result. Whatever it is, though, we know without a shadow of a doubt that a hardened heart will not end well for us (Hebrews 3:7-8).

So … no more messing with maggots! Let’s learn to use our spiritual muscles and eschew those snarky creatures. Let’s live the good life and choose the beauty that comes from real caterpillars, the unerringly good precepts set forth for us in God’s Word. “But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14).