Hello Friends,
I recently read a story about a man on a journey through a desert. He had read that nights in the desert can be brutally cold, so he decided on his first night to stop early to get his tent set up.
The winds were blowing hard that night, but once his tent was set up, he went in to sleep. In the middle of the night, he was startled by something trying to come into his tent. Apparently his camel was getting cold so the camel stuck his nose into the tent to warm up. The man must have thought it was okay and went back to sleep. Before long, he was awakened again. This time he noticed the camel had nudged his head and front shoulder into the tent. Again, the man must have thought it was okay and decided to go back to sleep. The next time the man was awakened, he was outside of his tent. The camel had taken over the tent.
I want to remind us of a couple of things from this short story. The man on the journey knew that a camel had no business being in his tent. But he allowed it when it was just his nose. I wonder why the man didn't take his foot and push the camel's nose back out of the tent? Why would he allow that stinky animal to be in the tent with him? What started out as something small ended up taking over his shelter.
Sin can do the same thing in our lives. When we allow little things to creep into our lives that might not seem like a big deal at the time, we are allowing the enemy to get his foot in the door, or the camel's nose in the tent.
My point is this: SMALL SIN DOESN'T STAY SMALL!
James 4:7 reads, “
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you
.” You may have heard this verse quoted before and may have even memorized it. But we must not forget to read and apply the first part of this verse before trying to apply the second part of the verse. Look at what the entire verse says, "
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
In order to have the power to resist the devil, we must first submit our lives completely to the Lord. He is our source of strength. We are definitely no match for the devil, but we have power through Jesus Christ to resist and stand firm when he tries to stick his nose in the tent!
Whatever temptation or problem you may be facing today, it is no match for God. I want to encourage you to beware of the camel's nose. Make it a point to start your day with submission to God and you will find strength there to push the devil's nose out of the tent before he completely climbs in.
Remember... SMALL SIN DOESN'T STAY SMALL!
Have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you on Sunday.
In His Grip,
Pastor Joel
