A pest nest took up residence in one of the apple trees in early July. I noticed it, but my life was way too crazy at the time to do anything about it. Besides, it was just a tiny little pest nest. It was just a small patch in the middle of a branch.
But the pest nest started to expand. The leaves below the pest nest began dying and the web consumed them.
Every time I glanced out my kitchen window I thought: “I should go cut that branch off. I need to remove that pest nest before it spreads any farther.”
But my life was just too busy! Too much crazy going on!
So the pest nest continued to grow.
The pest nest spread the opposite way out to the tip of the branch. All the leaves turned brown and shriveled up. The pest nest web consumed them.
August arrived and the pest nest continued to spread and grow. It spread to the branch next to it. The leaves shriveled and dried up … and the web consumed them!
The pest nest spread to a third brand. The leaves shriveled and dried up … and the web consumed them!
The apples on the apple tree are beginning to turn ripe.
But not where the pest nest has taken up residence. Here the apples have been consumed in the web! The fruit is a total loss.
That is just downright gross and disgusting!
I can’t help but think how the pest nest in my apple tree is a lot like sin in our life. Sin starts out small and tiny in some random corner of our life. Just like the pest nest started out small and tiny on some random branch in the apple tree.
It wasn’t much. Just a tiny little pest nest in the middle of the branch. Just a couple of leaves.
And so, this too is what we think of the sin which has taken up residence in our life. It’s not much. Just a tiny little bit of sin in a tiny little corner of our life. Nothing much really.
Our conscience warns us that this is not good. We think: “I really should not be allowing this sin in my life. I know this isn’t right. I know this isn’t good. I know this is going to lead to problems.”
But just like I was too busy with the craziness of life to do anything about the pest nest in the apple tree, so too our life sweeps us along on the currents of insanity and busy-ness, and we don’t do anything about the sin in our life.
And the sin in our life grows.
It spreads … and begins impacting other areas of our life.
Other areas of our life, which were previously thriving and flourishing now start to wither and dry up … as the web of sin consumes them!
The sin in our life, left unchecked, continues to spread. The web of sin soon becomes a nasty huge part of our life. All the beautiful “fruit” in our life which could have been amazing becomes rotten and a total loss because of the web of sin consuming it.
Don’t leave sin unchecked in your life!
When you notice an area of your life where sin is creeping in, do something about it! Repent of that sin to God. Name it. Confess it. Ask God to take it away. He will. God is really good as soul “gardening.” God is really good with soul “pruners.”
Don’t let sin become a huge, disgusting pest nest in your life.
