Bats in the House
When we lived in Harrisonburg, we were awakened one night by something flying around our bedroom. t was a bat! I got a broom, and we opened up the front door and finally persuaded the bat to leave. This disrupted our night’s sleep, and a few nights later the same thing happened. I discovered that bats can get into your house through very small holes. I went on a search looking for points of entry. The chimney was the culprit. We had a wire cage over the chimney, but the wire cage had a hole in it. It didn’t take us long to repair that hole.
In Songs of Solomon 2:15, Solomon mentions another troublesome mammal. He writes of the danger of “little foxes” which can “ruin the vineyards.” Symbolically, he’s speaking of threats that can enter a relationship and ruin it. I’m not trying to offend bat-lovers or fox-lovers, but keeping bats out of the house and foxes out of the vineyard is a lot like dealing with sin in our lives.
Think with me about how sin creeps into our lives. Ephesians 4:18 tells us how to live our lives in Christ. Paul first notes the futile thinking of those who live apart from God. “They are darkened in their understanding and so indulge in every kind of impurity.” (v. 19) Verse 24 says we’re to “put on the new self, created to be like God.” This means a lifestyle of honesty and integrity, usefulness and generosity. (vv. 25-28) Above all, it’s marked by kindness, compassion and forgiveness. (v. 32)
If bats have gotten into your house, you need to find how they got in and get rid of them. “As children of light” (v. 5:8) we reflect the one who is Light (John 1:5-7). Thank goodness we are in Christ and can live “in the light of the Lord” and in a way that pleases Him. (Ephesians 5:8-10) Get rid of the bats in your life and live as a “Child of God.”
Prayer: God, give me the power and the strength to resist sinning. I don’t want to damage my relationship with you and others! Amen!
Song of Songs 2:15 – “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards.”
By the Rev. Tommy Herndon
Image: Clément Falize/Unsplash
