Courtesy BedBugs.org

 Most of us can remember our mothers or grandmothers tucking us into bed at night and whispering, “Don’t let the bed bugs bite.” As a child I never took that warning seriously. It was just something they said at bed time. I never imagined that bed bugs were real… it was something adults made up.

Now I know differently. Bed bugs are real, and in recent years they have become an increasingly serious problem throughout our land. My wife and I recently dealt with a serious infestation of bed bugs in my parents’ residence over a period of more than two months. Right now, some of you are probably doing what I’m doing… scratching various places on my body. Sorry about that!

But here’s the point of all this bug talk.

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to slip into complacency when it comes to holiness? Like bed bugs that sneak in when we are asleep, sin and carelessness creep into our lives in little bits until suddenly our spiritual lives become anemic. We may rationalize that, like my belief that bed bugs didn’t really exist, these small ‘sin’ acts don’t really count as sin. After all, God doesn’t care about little things like claiming a senior discount when I’m a few months away from being eligible, does He? Surely He doesn’t want to be bothered by what I’m watching on TV. After all, I can sort through the garbage without it affecting me, right?

When God talks about “guarding your heart”, or “watching yourself closely”, or “don’t be deceived”, does that sound like God is not concerned with the little things? Like bed bugs, we can become careless and wake up to find ourselves infested with scores of what we thought were insignificant sins—sins that now entangle us and hinder us from running the race God marked out for us.

Perhaps that why Paul wrote to Timothy saying, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). Sure, God already did all the work of providing for and securing our salvation. Our part is to repent and believe. His grace has done everything else. But now, we are commanded to ‘work out’ our salvation by being the ‘aroma of Christ’ through righteous living. Ironically, even that comes through His divine power.

We understand, I hope, that we cannot give what we do not have. If we do not live a holy life, it’s awfully hard to convince our children and grandchildren they should. The old saying, “Do as I say, not as I do” communicates a destructive message. That attitude will never positively influence a child towards holiness and righteousness. The truth is… our walk talks and our talk talks, but our walk talks LOUDER than our talk talks.

As grandparents we must take sin seriously if we want our grandchildren to take it seriously. Followers of Christ know who they are and what God has does to redeem them. Followers make mistakes, but they do not live in them, but learn from them. They understand that apart from God they can do nothing. They also understand that His grace is sufficient and His power is made perfect in our weakness.

So, we would do well to heed Paul’s instruction to the Ephesians: “Make every effort to live a life worthy of the call you have received.” Your life may be the only Bible your grandchildren will read. Make sure it’s worth reading… and don’t let the bed bugs bite.