The Sword & Shield: A 5-Day DevotionalSample

What if you received a registered letter today from the government informing you that CIA intelligence had been passed to them that you were a target of a terrorist plot? The letter states that you will be killed within the week—no matter where you are. There is no hiding. But you do have one choice—how you die.

The first option is to be taken out by sniper—sudden, random, when you least expect it. No warning. No confrontation. No pain. One shot—gone. The second choice is something you drink or eat will be poisoned. You won’t know in what or when, but it will be ingested at some point. The poison will be a very slow death, likely quite painful, and you’ll be very aware that you are dying. Which death would you choose?

99.9 percent are going to answer with “sniper.” If this is my only choice and it is going to happen, then I choose random, quick, and done. But here’s the oddly ironic twist to this bizarre scenario: in real life, 99.9 percent of us choose the poison. Allow me to explain.

Sin as poison is exactly the opposite of the sniper hit. Very slow, this kind of ongoing cycle of temptation can take years to kill. The point of ingestion may not even be remembered any longer, but the awareness that it’s inside you is glaringly evident.

Poison can be anger, bitterness, hatred, jealousy, greed, materialism, apathy, complacency, lust, gluttony, materialism, addiction, lying, criticism, blame, laziness, entitlement, betrayal, and on and on. Poison typically starts very small, usually with an event connected to a feeling or an emotion. If not addressed, and especially when entertained, the problem starts to grow. Poison can stay hidden for a very long time, but will always eventually begin to show its effects. And, untreated, it will kill. And possibly even spread to others.

The good news is Jesus knows the poison is there, where it is, how much is present, and He holds the cure. Our salvation is not up to us to gain, it is a free gift of God, but our level of healing and growth lies in our daily decisions to choose Him, to take up our cross that is provided by His mercy, and follow Him.

Name one type of poison in your past from which you know God has delivered you.