I have been down with the flu for five days. And I got a flu shot. I keep trying to imagine how much worse it would havee been if I hadn’t got the shot!
I would have loved to have spent the time cozied up and polishing several books on my Nook, but I just couldn’ t focus good enough for that. So honed up on my Yahtzee skills and listened to a lot of TV. Needless to say, I’vehad my fill of year end car sale/deal ads. Thee were also lots of ads for new movies and new TV programs. One new program that seemed to get a lot of ad time was the new show with Kevin Bacon, The Following. I just looked up the plot on one of my go to sites, IMDB.com, and I honestly still don’t get it. But there was a part of one ad that really disturbed me– enough that I remembered it in spite of my foggy mental state these past few days, and enough to write about it.
At one point a woman appears to be describing the series, and she uses just two words. I’m not sure if itnwas the way she said that troubled me or the impact of the words. It just sent chills, and not in a good way when she delivered her summation: deliciously evil.
Does that trouble anybody else? All I can hear is the serpant’s hiss hanging on the end of the phrase. As I pondered why this bothered me so, a verse from Proverbs came to mind: Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burnt? Proverbs 6:27, NIV
I know disastrous it is try and play with fire, to dance at edge of the precipice–hkw slippery the s,ope really is and how hard it is to come back. Sometimes I feel like an alarmist, always shouting that the bridge is out, waving my arms crazylike hoping someone will see and turn away before it’s too late.
It’s a new year. A time for resolutions and determined resolve. Here’s a no brainer. It’s so important that Jesus included it in his model prayer for his disciples. He told them that they need to pray that theybwould be led away from temptation, evil. In our day this prayer is even more necessary for his followers.
I challenge you to go to scripture, at least 7 different verses about avoiding evil, assign one to each day of the week, and then pray that verse on that day. We have lost our joy, our peace,and our power because we have allowed evil to creep into our lives. We are far too accepting and comfortable with it. If we ca think of it as deliscious…God help us.
God, make us aware of the places and spaces where we have made evil welcome in our lives, our hearts, our homes, our relationships. Do in us the hard work of cleansing and purifying. You are our refiner. Our one desire is to be holy, and wholly thine. This is our prayer in your name, Jesus.
Pot of Manna 