One day I was in my backyard (minding my own business) when a neighbor pointed out that he thought he saw a hornets nest in the tree that shared my back fence. I went over to the tree and examined it and discovered that indeed there was a nest. It wasn't small and just a matter of knocking it down. This was a BIG nest about the size of a basketball. The hornets didn't seem particularly bothered by my looking and didn't bother me. Having the presence of mind to determine that this was outside of my ability to deal with I called a hornet removal person from Craigslist. Alarmed that this nest had been there for some considerable time to get so big; I decided to do an examination of the rest of my trees and yard. Thankfully there was just the one nest...right next to the pool my children been swimming in for the summer. Weighing in all that could have gone wrong it was difficult to not panic to a slight degree. The hornet guy arrived in a VW van. That should have been my first clue. Next, he took a vacuum cleaner (canister type) out of the back of the van and attached several hoses. Carrying the equipment and dressed for safety he went to the hornets nest, set up the ladder, and climbed up with the vacuum hose. To my surprise (I was watching from a distance) he took a device emitting smoke and began to smoke out the hornets. As they exited he vacuumed them up into the canister. To make sure he had all the bees he took a broom handle and began to tap the nest. I took additional steps away from the action. When he had finished he got down from the ladder, took his gear and went out to his VW van where he would freeze the hornets and sell them for their venom. They would be used to keep others from going into shock or even dying.
What's this have to do with Christianity? Good question. Everything. The Bible tells us that because of Adam and Eve and the calamity in the garden that we too are now born in sin. Sin permeates our being. We sometimes go on for years unaware that inside of us there is this nest of sins that have been building until a neighbor tells us about its presence. Sometimes this happens early in life and the nest is small and other times (like me) the nest is large and even out of control. The need for eradication of the sin in our lives is meant to render us "clean" and keep those around us safe from the disease of sin we have been carrying. I don't know about you but there is no one on earth that I know of that can complete the operation of removing my sins. No man or group of men exist that possess the tools and means to not only detect the sins but have the power to remove them by any means. That's a job only a qualified entity can take care of. Jesus, along with the Holy Spirit, team up to do just that. Once discovered, the choice is still mine. I can retain my sins and sinful living as long as I like. Why? Because I am created with free will. The gentle (and sometimes ungentle) tapping of the nest by the Holy Spirit brings sins to the surface where they are exposed and require dealing with. This is the process of sanctification. No one who claims to be saved by the blood of Jesus slain for them is able to live the Christian life without sanctification.
The hornets were gone. So I thought. A couple of days later I noticed some stray hornets going in and out of the nest that was still hanging in the tree. It appeared no one on Craigslist wanted the nest as my ad went on unanswered to give it away. Taking things into my own hands (from a distance) I attacked the nest with a high pressure water nozzle. The paper think layers of the nest quickly dropped away and soon the nest was gone. The hornets, not to quickly, left the area as their home was gone. They weren't wanted at my home and in my yard. People were safe once again from the possibility of being stung by hornets. The "washing" away of the nest is necessary for the removal of sin as well. Taking down the fortress built by the enemy over the years sometimes takes years of washing to destroy. However we want to look at this problem of sin, the eradication of the hornets and their next is very descriptive of he presence and deadliness of sin in our lives. The sooner we take care of the problem, the sooner we are safely in the protection and love of Jesus. Make no mistake, sin, like hornets, leads to destruction and is able to hurt those around us. It's not a "victimless" event.
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