I just finished doing my quiet time today, as Brooklyn naps. And I was struck by a little bit of insight that I feel like sharing. So, the following is an entry into my prayer/quiet time journal...

I have just been lying down with Brooklyn who was reluctant to take her nap without snuggling with me. And I relished the snuggle and forced stillness. I take those moments with her to read - lately out of a John Ortberg book. God has really been using this book in my life - to give me little bits of clarity on certain points. As I crept away from B's room to pee, I glanced over at the bathroom wall and saw yet another blasted ant making himself right at home in my home.

And it struck me. Living among ants is like living with sin. When we first spot the return of the ants (every spring), we're outraged, repulsed and immediately on the phone to Terminix to eradicate them from our sanctified homes! Out comes the Terminix guy - perhaps for multiple visits - doing his best to stop the entry of the ants. And maybe the bulk of the ants seems to be deterred. But there are still the stragglers, the seekers of tidbits, the scouts. Looking for bits of evidence worth returning to their homes and calling out the troops in full force. And against those stragglers the battle is waged. Finger combat. Smushing them one at a time. Assuring yourself of their death as the peppermint aroma of them wafts upward.

Yet, despite the constant parade of scouts, I have not called Terminix back. I wonder if I should.

It occurs to me that sin is like these ants. We're so quick to respond with disgust, urgency and condemnation when the sins are prolific, numerous and a threat to our way of life. We call in for back-up. We pull out the big guns. But when it's just the one or two, we go at it much more casually. Should we be any less repulsed by the one than we are by the 50? I think not! For the one tiny ant represents the 50 or 50,000, more likely!

If we let sin find a hint of a crumb in our lives, will not the full force of the devil, Satan and his minions, bear down on us to claim us as their lunch?! Yes! Jus as the scout ants work tirelessly to find the one crumb of catfood left behind, so they may alert their army of troops to come forth, so Satan's scouts seek equally vigilantly for our chinks, our weaknesses, our lapses in cleanliness.

May I give Satan no crumbs just as I seek to leave nothing behind for the blasted, heinous ants. Lord, help me be as vigilant in the house cleaning of my soul and spirit as I am of my physical dwelling.