A few days ago my wife came to me complaining that gnats had overtaken her car. She said, “I have rolled down the windows, but I can’t get rid of them.” Now when this happens it’s a good indication that they are being drawn in. I said to her, “You have something in your car that they are after.” Of course this didn’t seem to be an adequate answer since she had already completed what she thought was a thorough search of the vehicle. Yet, I stayed with my premise and made my way out to the garage and opened the passenger door to the gnat infested party. They were definitely having a marvelous time. Immediately I could smell a familiar odor. Reaching my hand underneath the seat I suddenly felt it, the soft remains of a rotten apple. It had escaped from one of our shopping bags a few days earlier. After its removal suddenly the gnats began to vanish. All of this aggravation came about because something was allowed to lodge and then decay within the inner sanctum of our automobile. Doesn’t this same thing happen to us spiritually? Don’t we allow things like anger, jealousy, strife and fear to sit within our hearts until rotting transpires? Then everything around us creates irritability and has the semblance of an aggravating gnat. That’s why Jesus instructed us to guard and purify our hearts daily. Failure to do so is to invite those unwanted pests into the inner circle of our lives bringing their own form of misery. However, the good news is that Christ has given us the freedom of forgiveness which allows us to discard the rotten while taking on the righteous; that my friend will keep away those aggravating gnats.
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