Don’t Cling to Me

July 9, 2008

By Christina Quick

“I hope you used bug spray,” a woman said cheerfully as she passed my family on a local nature trail recently. “This place must be the tick capital of the world.”

We hadn’t thought to apply insect repellant. But I wasn’t too concerned. After all, the gravel path was wide and we had already warned the kids to stay away from the tall grass. She had to be exaggerating, right?

Twenty minutes later, our son noticed a moving speck on his pants leg. Then another. And another. Pulling up his shirt, he found three more ticks crawling on his bare skin! That’s when we realized we were all covered with the things — from tiny deer ticks to larger spotted ones. Resisting the urge to panic, we hustled back down the trail toward the mini-van, brushing and picking at each other as we went.

We spent ten minutes in the parking lot trying to rid ourselves — and our poor dog — of the unwelcome hitchhikers. Though the vast majority had not yet latched on, the sheer numbers were disturbing. At one point I literally shook several small ticks from my shoes. How we had failed to become aware of these sooner is almost beyond me.

At home, the next several hours were consumed with shaking out and washing clothes, using tweezers to remove the pests from the dog, and making sure everyone was bathed and tick-free.

I was amazed at how quickly this army of tiny parasites had invaded our space and wreaked havoc on our peaceful afternoon. Later I thought about how easily “little” things that often escape notice creep into people’s spiritual lives — things like envy, doubt, resentment, greed and lust. Once attached, these sins can drain the very lifeblood from an individual.

In the future, I imagine my family and I will stay off that particular trail during the summer months. And when we venture into the woods elsewhere, we’ll remember the repellant.

Similarly, as Christians we should steer clear of places where we know we’re likely to be bombarded with temptation. And we should remember to cover our lives with the “sin repellant” of God’s Word.

“I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men … will not cling to me.” (Psalm 101:3).

— Christina Quick is staff writer for Today’s Pentecostal Evangel and blogs at Refrigerator Art (cquick.agblogger.org).