Slugs in the “Sonlight”

So what’s all the fuss about slugs? Maybe it’s the way they shrivel away and quickly die when exposed to sunlight. When the sun is shining, I can’t find a slug, and my flowers blossom beautifully for all to behold.

While I am in my garden, I often wonder if I am tending to the spiritual “slugs” that try to invade my heart. Jesus shines His love on me so that I can grow and share His beauty with all. But too often, I let the darkness creep in, and the “slugs” of sin start eating away instead. Slugs can be the grudge I hold against the driver in front of me, who is still sitting at the green light because she hasn’t finished texting. I detect the darkness in my heart and cover up what is left of my patience. Then Jesus, the Son, lights my mind with His words. “Carelessly call a brother ‘idiot!’ and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell ‘stupid!’ at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill” (Matthew 5:21, 22, The Message).

Sometimes a slug creeps in, eats away at my faith, and leaves trails of anxiety and worry. Again, the Son’s desire for me is to rest in His comfort, and then peace blossoms. “Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life” (Philippians 4:6, 7, The Message).

The hardest slug to weed out is the bitterness I hide, deeply rooted from years of feeding its hurt, doubt, and mistrust. Yet that which is hard for me to release the Son uproots. In the place of bitterness, He plants fragrant forgiveness and His sweet, sweet Spirit. “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matthew 6:14, 15, NIV). Won’t you let the Son’s light destroy the slugs in your heart today?

As told by Ila Cockrum to Wendy Williams