Romans 12:9-11
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
Several years ago I was watching a show on the Animal Channel. The show host was carefully holding a red frog in his cupped hands as he made a great case for the rarity of this small frog. Explaining that the red frog was close to being placed on the endangered species list, he stated that he always held a frog lightly since a frog breathes through the skin and can absorb certain chemicals from a human’s palms that may cause its death.
The host took great care to explain how this frog defends itself. He explained that if an animal took the frog into its mouth, the frog would inject a gooey, noxious substance into the throat and mouth of the attacker. This would cause such swelling and pain that the attacker would immediately release the frog.
Suddenly, the frog he was holding about eight inches from his face, made a leap into his mouth. He quickly spat and caught the frog in his hand. As he tried to control his emotions, the shaken show host placed the frog down onto the dank forest floor and quickly stammered through the rest of his narrative.
As I have thought about this incident, I wonder why these wildlife hosts feel it is necessary to hunt down such weird creatures and then hold them with seeming ecstasy before releasing them again. Many times they have been poisoned by the creatures, but they still continue this dangerous practice.
Here is where I make the spiritual application! That is exactly how many people — even Christians — deal with sinful things. We go after them and hold them in our hands even though we know how dangerous they are. All too often these practices strike and place us in grave danger.
Today’s Scripture says that we are to hate what is evil. If we are to walk in the ways of God, we should see the danger of getting too close to the things which are detestable to God. What God hates we have no business holding close to us. We should run from it and not hold it close.
The question we always must ask ourselves is: “Is there any sinful thing in my life that I am holding close enough that it can inject its poison into me?” We need to get rid of those things that pose a spiritual danger to us. Turn to Christ and ask Him to give us the strength and power to get rid of the “EVIL” in our life.
– – – Pastor Cecil