Mosquito War
The itchy welt left on my body from their little feast irritates me for days
Reference: “But if a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked person does, will they live? None of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness they are guilty of and because of the sins they have committed, they will die. (Ezekiel 18:24 NIV)
Explore: Mosquitoes love me. The love, however, is unrequited. Mosquitoes are a little flying insect who use blood for food.
To be honest, it’s not so much the blood they take from me that I mind so much, it’s what they leave behind. The itchy welt left on my body from their little feast irritates me for days and leaves me feeling much hate towards such a little animal.
If I’m quick enough to see a mosquito land on my skin, I will slap it hard before it gets the chance to bite me. There was a time when I would leave the splattered insect on my skin as a deterrent to all the other mosquitoes in the area to stay away. This never worked though and I would still get bitten by others.
This surprised me. If I was walking somewhere and I saw a whole heap of dead humans lying on the ground, I don’t think I would stay in that area for long. But the mosquitoes didn’t seem to notice their squashed mate.
Application: I guess, in one way, we’re not that different to mosquitoes. We don’t always see the danger ahead and often persist on the wrong path.
This is what happened to the people that Ezekiel was sent to speak to. If they had have noticed the destruction of their ancestors they would have stopped and turned back to God. But instead they continued on and suffered the consequences.
We can be the same today. We know what would be the best thing for us to say or do, but we still decide to act selfishly or unlovingly.
Let’s be greater than an insect and open our eyes to what is happening around us. May we learn from those who have gone before and learn from the mistakes that we, and others, make.
Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we see the danger but plow ahead anyway. May we strive to do what is right and just in Your eyes. Amen.
What is a warning you can see from someone else’s life?
This article was written by Linda Bailey
Linda started theological studies in 1999 in Australia. After working for ten years in various church ministries, she now works as the breakfast producer at 89.9 LightFM - the Christian radio station in Melbourne, Australia. She writes blogs every day about passages she is currently reading in the Bible. Follow her on Google Plus +Linda Bailey or Facebook by clicking the like button on the right of this page.