Keep your fence pulled tight.

Recently I had to enter our pasture with my truck. I drove to the edge of the barn and opened the gate which consists of two strands of electrified barbed wire fencing. I carried them back out of the way like I have many times before and laid them on the ground and went into the pasture. When I was leaving I went to close the gate and found that the two strands of electrified barbed wire were now entangled. After some nifty moves that resembled a Crossfit participant using the heavy ropes, I was able to untangle the wires and close the gate. I stood there for a moment in the midst of this frustrating event and marveled at something I had witnessed more times than I could count. A barbed wire fence, even after years of being pulled tight and strung between posts, when released from the posts will still coil up like a Slinky or a spring. Often times when that happens it is with disastrous effects. You have to spend valuable time unwinding and untangling a convoluted mess that usually leaves you bleeding and looking like you've been in a fight.

The spiritual reality of what I witnessed with that fence seemed to speak loudly to me that day. A Christian can spend many years of spiritual sobriety drawing close to God. They can serve Him faithfully in the church or on the mission field. They can lead their family to faith and help their faith grow. All the while being a tightly pulled barbed wire fence between the fence posts of faith. But remember when something happens to the post and the wire is released, it coils up into a terrifying bundle of pain, agony, and lost time. When a believer allows temptation to unhook their spiritual fence from the post, they will find themselves in a convoluted mess of hurt and pain as sin coils them up like a broken Slinky. 

Now don't think this only happens to those who backslide from the faith and walk away from God. It does, but the hurt and pain sin causes occurs even with the slightest of transgressions against God's commands. Although we often times try to sweep those minor infractions under the rug, they eventually become a mound that causes us to trip. The catch is that even minor sins cause a distance between us and God. This is why it is so important that we keep our spiritual life drawn tight between the posts of faith. When we keep our fence tight and stay close to God, temptation has less of an affect on our life. Not that we won't ever fall to temptation again, but the closer we are to God, then the more we see Satan's temptations for what they really are. Lies, deceit, and pain.

Take it from one who has had to unwind and untangle both his physical barbed wire and spiritual barbed wire. It is much easier to keep your barbed wire tight than it is to untangle the mess because you allowed slack in your wire.


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