Kicking Anthills

What happens when you kick over an anthill? The ants usually have it rebuilt the next day. They don't relocate or give up. They choose to rebuild in the same spot. Every time. In order to get rid of the ants completely, you don't just squash the worker ants. You have to take out the source.

"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first."
~Luke 11:24-26

I've had problems with ants coming in near the kitchen sink. I sprayed the windowsill which took out some of the workers, but other ants continued to invade my home. So I bought these ant baits at the grocery store. Here's how it works. The ants take the bait back to the nest where it then kills all of the ants. Last month I set one in the windowsill and haven't seen any live ants in weeks. It worked!

The same scenario is played out in our lives. We kick over anthills. For example, we make New Year's resolutions that maybe last a week. We go on diets or exercise programs, buying all this equipment, only to give up after a few attempts. We have good intentions to help someone, but get overwhelmed with our own agendas.Or we decide to stop a certain sin, but we can't seem to cut it off completely. Sometimes our failure discourages us from even trying again. And the ants march on.

The problem is that we fail to take out the source. God has equipped us with everything that we need to succeed. But many times we don't know how to use it. Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father."

The question is, do you really believe Him? In the next few days we'll look at how to use the gifts God has given us. Thanks for reading.