At first there were only a few—and then my kitchen was invaded! I assumed they were fruit flies. No problem. Spray the room with Hot Shot, close the door, done.

Wrong! The number kept increasing. They were everywhere.  As I stood by and grumbled and complained, someone suggested they might be drain flies. A check of the internet told me how to tell the difference—check out their eyes. If they are red, they are fruit flies. If they are brown, then they are drain flies. Well, have you ever tried to see the eyes of a gnat?

Sadly, while I was trying to decide what to do, my kitchen became a war zone. Hot Shot was not doing the trick. The invasion was spreading to other rooms of the house. What to do?

After days of delay, I finally concluded I couldn’t see their eyes, they didn’t seem to like fruit but preferred water sources, they must be drain flies. Solution? Fill the drain with 1 cup salt, 1 cup baking soda. Pour in boiling vinegar. Wait overnight. Fill with boiling water.

The long and the short of it–I treated my drains. You’d have thought I had set off a bomb, though, when that vinegar reached the salt and baking soda! Kaboom! Still, there were gnats—or fruit flies—or drain flies!

The last resort was all out war with an old timey fly swatter and those hanging strips with sticky adhesive! We took turns as we slapped and grunted and occasionally let out war cries! I’ll probably have to paint my ceiling to cover the little black spots left by son Jeff when he got over exuberant and crushed the enemy!

Finally, though, we got to the real source. When looking for onions in a lower cabinet, daughter-in-law Kandee noticed an abundance of the little darlings and found a bag of rotting potatoes pushed way to the back. Once disposed of properly and the remaining mess cleaned with Clorox, we finally won the war. It was over. Peace at last!

The moral of this story? Don’t let problems pile up. DO SOMETHING!

Sin is like that. We humans think one little sin won’t matter. Nobody will know. It will be o.k. WRONG!  What appears to be a little sin tends to grow into bigger and bigger issues very much like my gnat problem if left unaddressed.

Just ask any alcoholic or drug addict or sex addict or foodaholic. They certainly didn’t start out to become addicts. One drink, one pill, one snort, one glance, one pan of brownies or whole box of doughnuts became one too many. And the problem got totally out of hand—spilling over into more and more areas of life.

Barney Fife got it right! “Nip it! Nip it in the bud!”

The word “sin” is mentioned 1792 times in the Bible. Apparently, the Lord thought it was an important topic!

The first words recorded from John the Baptist were, “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!” (Matthew 3:2 NLT)

When Jesus arrived, he spoke often on the topic:

“From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” (Matthew 4:17 NLT). And what about this quote:

 “Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin.” (John 8:34 NLT)

So, what is the answer when temptation comes knocking?

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7 NLT)

Believe me, submitting to the Lord is much easier than dealing with the consequences of doing nothing and finding yourself in a war zone with the devil! Therefore, run with all your might away from the Twinkie, the social media gossip mill, the Bud Light, the coke, the joint, the porn site, the pill bottle–and right into the loving arms of Jesus!

“Remember, Jesus promised, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NLT)

What about you? Been in a war zone with the temptations of this world? Any insights you’d like to share? I would love to hear from you. Thanks for reading. May your days be filled with peace and blessings!