Picking up on my train of thoughts from the MAGGOTS post
(BTW - thanks Perry for the link love):
Ephesians 4:26-27 says:
"Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil."
This verse reminds me of beavers.
I hate beavers.
Always plugging up happy water streams.
The Tale of the Beaver is a prerequisite for this post.
Animal traps, however, are heavenly.
A small plate in the middle of the trap contains bait to catch small animals.
Once the furry codger takes the bait - SLAM! - the trap imprisons him.
Greek for the small plate of bait is scandalon. Its where we get our word for scandal. When we take the bait, we are trapped.
Now chew on 2 Timothy 2:24-26:
"And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone...
and they (must) come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will."
The Enemy sets traps for us.
Now think back to Ephesians 4.
When we are offended or bitter about something, we take the bait of the trap set for us! This is why Paul implores us to keep short accounts!
Not keeping short accounts leads to growing anger (maggots!) which distorts your view of reality which then births bitterness.
Ready to really blow your mind?
Hebrews 12:15 says:
"See to it... that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled."
Bitterness in Greek = pikros = to prick.
Defile in Greek = miano = to stain or dye.
God is saying don't let the poison of bitterness infect you!
Bitterness is like grabbing a bottle of poison, chugging it, and then expecting the other person to die.
Holding onto a past offense is a trap of the Enemy.
The Devil's playground is the Christian's battleground - shut the door on past hurts!
Radically forgive.
Pursue grace.
Don't be a beaver.
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