The Huntsman

He walked through the door of the shop unnoticed by most,  but I saw him.  What is he doing here? I wondered.  Quickly, he began walking straight toward me. What are you doing?, I thought.  I don’t want any trouble here.  His beady eyes met mine and he paused briefly as if to determine his next move.  It was impossible not to notice his long, hairy legs, as he continued to stride proudly through the shop.  Clearly, he didn’t belong here.  Who was this ominous stranger?  Ha! He was a massive Huntsman spider measuring at least five or six inches across.  Frightening to be sure.  I kept my eye on him, making sure he didn’t make any sudden moves.  Yes, they make sudden moves.  They don’t just crawl, they run, and incredibly fast.  Some even say they jump.  Definitely not Charlotte, from Charlotte’s Web. He is called Huntsman for a reason.  True, he doesn’t normally go after people, preferring to hunt cockroaches.  But, they do have venom and they can bite if provoked.  That’s why I kept my eye on him.  Finally, he made his way out of sight and under a plant stand.  Threat averted, for now. 

I paid my bill and left the shop.  Walking outside, I was promptly bitten by three mosquitoes.  Tiny, little, annoying, mosquitoes.  The kind you barely see and rarely feel landing on you.  As the bites on my arm began to redden and swell, I began pondering…

Isn’t that just the way of it?  As a follower of Christ, I realized it’s usually not the big things, but more often than not, it’s the little things that trip us up and cause us to fall.  Here’s what I mean.  I may feel pretty good about myself that I haven’t murdered anyone, but have I despised someone in my heart?  Jesus taught on this in Matthew 5:21-22.  He went on to teach about adultery in the same manner (Matthew 5:27-28).  Little compromises.  The things we can’t always see in ourselves and rarely feel as they bite us.   It all begins in the heart.    

“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”

Proverbs 4:23 NLT