Ants, Ants, Everywhere

Disclaimer: This post is being written by a very frustrated person. Any or all this information may or may not be exaggerated or blown out of proportion due to the emotional state of the writer.

Today my battle has been with ants- those tiny black sugar ants that seem to appear out of no where. One minute there are none then you look at the same spot your eyes just left one second ago in the middle of the counter and there it is. So far they have been limited to the kitchen counter. I have tried the natural remedies- vinegar, keeping everything cleaned up on a daily basis by trying to eliminate all crumbs, drawing a chalk line (ants are not suppose to cross it- HA). I took care of the ones in the kitchen only to answer the phone in the bedroom to find JP's nightstand table covered and some on the floor around it. JP was calling when I discovered the little boogers. He said forget the vinegar- get the spray. So I sprayed the table, the floor under the table, and the wall around our bed which seems to be the point of entry. Then I had to get the fan to air out the room. I moved the floor screen and found the mystery attraction- a lollipop stick and wrapper. I would like to blame our children but we don't let them eat anywhere else but the table. We did it. Now we are confined to eating at the table even candy. I think I took care of the problem but only time will tell. They seem to always pop up when I least expect it. We'll go a few days without seeing any and then I guess we let down our guard or something because then we are playing this little game again.

It seems as I write these everyday situations, spiritual truths come to mind. These little ants remind me of how temptation and sin creep in on us if we let down our guard. We think "Oh I have a handle on this problem or that addiction or those thought patterns" and we let down our guard. We are not vigilant about sweeping up or wiping up or leaving any trace of "food" for the enemy to zero in on. We think we can make it through the day without our personal prayer and bible study time. We forget to confess our sins daily and ask for help to avoid temptation. We need to be in the habit of confession every day. Just like I need to clean my floors and counters every day. When we confess our sin and ask God to help us overcome our temptations, we are guarding ourselves. Now that doesn't mean that things won't creep in on us from time to time, but hopefully just like my ants those times will get fewer and fewer. Who knows maybe there will come a time when the ants will go away completely. But until then lets keep guard and be vigilant lest we fall into sin.