Of Mice and Sin...a lesson in getting rid of "the sin that so easily entangles us"

I have always had a huge aversion to mice.  I don't know why, but they just seem to unnerve me.  It's not that they're vicious or particularly scary....they simply freak me out!  Why this random topic of mice, you ask?  Well, we recently retrieved our trailer from the barn we store it in so we could get it ready to go camping.  This is an annual ritual for us, as we always go on our first camping trip of the year over Memorial day weekend.  Much to our dismay, there was evidence that mice had been "camping" in our trailer over the winter.  They wreaked havoc all over the place, destroying things everywhere!  Mice are not clean little things and they leave a disgusting mess in their wake.  Suffice it to say that we had to clean, scrub and disinfect every square inch of our trailer.  It took the better part of 2 solid days to do it all.  What was most frustrating of all was trying to figure out how in the world they got into the trailer in the first place.  Throughout our cleaning frenzy I couldn't help but see the object lesson that was taking shape before me ---  Just like the mice in our trailer - so it is with sin in our lives.  Once we allow even the smallest bit of access for sin to take root in us, before long it runs rampant and infects everything.  Then it is imminently necessary for us to confess it sooner rather than later, or else we will have one giant MESS on our hands (and in our hearts and minds)!  Thankfully we have a Savior who died for us so that we could be cleansed and forgiven in just such times when we let our guard down and allow sin to creep in.  

"....let us throw off everything that hinders us and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..." - Hebrews 12:1 & 2a

* Footnote to this story......the 3rd day of getting the trailer ready, I opened one of the cupboards in the back bedroom of the trailer to get some linens out.  This cupboard is completely separate and, we thought, totally unaccessible for the mice.  However, shortly after I opened the door, I was startled to find that there was a LIVE mouse in there running to opposite side of the cupboard!  Another lesson to be learned????  Be VERY CAREFUL to make sure you search your heart for every hint of sin.  Because just about the time you decide that it couldn't possibly affect a particular area of your life.....you may just find it, not only living there - but thriving and taking real root.