As the unseasonal warm weather finally turned cold, I knew winter was winter had arrived. I enjoy winter. It is a quiet time; however, it is also a busy time.
As with every winter, I knew there were some things I had to take care with my house and property. It something that must be done every winter.
While walking around my house, I couldn’t help but take note at the many improvements that have been made this year. Most of them were designed to keep the critters and the pests at bay. To make sure they couldn’t get under the house or the building on my property. You may recall that is how my year started, with critters, unwanted critters getting under my house.
All these things were fairly simple fixes; however, they made a world of difference. These improvements have already been a blessing and I could see clearly how they would continue to be throughout the winter.
What did I do? I put up boundaries – boundaries that could not be crossed.
As I looked around, I heard the Lord say to me, “Sometimes the best thing you can do is to keep the critters and the pests out.”
Pests are defined as unwanted, annoying, persistent and destructive. That’s what these animals had been to me. And I was so thankful they could not cross the boundaries I had put in place.
What about the pests in our spiritual life? Do we have proper boundaries in place to keep them at bay? Or do we allow them to roam freely in our life?
John 10:10 tells us, The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Anything that comes into your life to steal…to kill…or to be destructive can be considered a pest. These are the very things for which we need to set boundaries.
The enemy comes to steal our faith, our peace, and our confidence in God. His agenda has not changed since the Garden of Eden. He comes to tempt us to question what God has said in His Word or in His promises to us. If he can get us to do that, he has already won the battle. We must resist him firm in the faith. (1 Peter 1:9)
His ultimate plan is to kill. We cannot buy into his lies. Remember, God told Adam and Eve in Genesis 2:17, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
The day we allow the enemy to cross boundaries and convince us to agree with him and question God, we begin to die spiritually – again, we must resist him steadfast in the faith.
Finally, the enemy comes to destroy. He is viciously destructive.
Destructive in the Strong’s Concordance is defined as; destruction, ruin, loss, perishing; eternal ruin. It also means to cut off (entirely) from what could or should have been.
Think about that for a moment, the thief comes to completely cut you off from what should have been – from your destiny in God.
We cannot allow that to happen! We must create boundaries today.
My friends, do not allow things to remain in your life that come to steal, kill and destroy. Do whatever it takes to remove them and limit their access to you. Set boundaries that you will not allow those pests to cross over. Let’s make sure we enter into this new season, pest and critter free.
