A few years ago, large, majestic pine trees in Colorado, some of which were saplings when Columbus discovered the New World, have, over the centuries, been struck by lightning, braved great windstorms, and even defied earthquakes. In the end, however, they were killed by some rice-sized pine beetles. Boring under the bark, they chew away the fibers, until one day these great kings of the forest come thundering down.

Similarly, little, insignificant actions or events often make substantial inroads into our spiritual lives, and if left unchecked, can cause our downfall. Luke 21:34-36 says, “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”

Idle words, neglected prayer, too much indulgence in recreation, sports, watching television, etc., can weaken us and cause our downfall. Jesus warned that sin starts in the heart: “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man” (Matthew 15:19-20). If you have allowed sin to gain a foothold, then “… come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:17-18).

Kyle Campbell