Spiritual Gnats

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Ephesians 6:13-17 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Spiritual Gnats

Matthew 4:1-11 1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” 10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

I sat in our parked car near a marsh in St. Augustine, Florida, while my husband competed in a skeet shoot. These minuscule insects have other names: "no-see-ums" or sand fleas, but whatever they are called, their bite was more than annoying.

They would nibble me and I would swat them, killing some and brushing others away. They bit through my hair and under my clothes, relentless in their attack. The pattern was: a bite, the area would itch, I would scratch it, then that area would hurt from scratching so much. The only hope I had was to apply gnat repellent before I was attacked again. It worked remarkably well, keeping the annoying insects at bay.

The gnats remind me of satan. He will send his demons to bite us, with sin. When the sin gnats bite with obvious evil, we may swat at them and knock some out. Their bite, however, once it penetrates, may give us an itch - perhaps for immorality, greed, or self centeredness. We may scratch that itch with wrong actions which can give us a puffed up ego, an attitude of dishonesty or self centeredness, or a heart to worship false idols. Eventually, we will hurt, just as my gnat bites hurt.

Thankfully, God has given us a sin repellent, and that is the armor of God. These pieces - the helmet, breastplate, belt, shoes, sword, shield - are very effective for keeping satan and his fiery arrows of sin away from us.

Let's remember to put on our armor each morning, just as we would remember to apply gnat repellent, to keep adversaries away. God has given us the equipment; it is up to us to use it.

Marion Smith