A Killer in the Kitchen

A story came out last week about a couple in South Africa who live with a tiger. Yes, they live with a live Bengal Tiger in their house. He sleeps with them in the bed, he eats at the table and he goes for rides in the car. I don't know about you but it would not surprise me if we read about this couple in a year or so being mauled to death by this tiger. Just last year a guy from South Africa was killed by his pet hippopotamus. The owner was dragged into a river, drowned, and mauled to death. Are you baffled by this? Are you scratching your head saying "Wow, I never would have seen that coming!" or are you saying "I saw it coming from a mile away!"

We read about these storied and shake our head in disbelief thinking how could they be so dumb. How could they live with something that has an animal instinct to kill. Tigers, Lions, Hippos, poisonous snakes, etc. are not necessarily good house pets. God created them with an instinct to react to certain situations without regard to thinking "I better not kill this guy, he is my source of food." he created them with an instinct that probably says "I will kill this guy because he will be a good source of food!".

I say that with a little humor and we may read about these people and say (in our best Napoleon Dynamite voice) "idiot!" However, if we are not careful we could find ourselves in an equally dangerous place without a tiger or hippo living in our dining room. We can find ourselves living with unconfessed sin or living in sin without concern. Take a look at the following verse:

I Peter 5: 8 - Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

John 10: 12 - 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.

Our enemy, the devil, is described as a lion and a wolf. Two animals that have the natural instinct to kill. Yet we will flirt with the dangerous animals when we flirt with the co-worker. We befriend the deadly animal when we begin to fudge the numbers at work. We bring the deadly animal into the house when we take the family computer into a room where no one can see us or what we are looking at. When the animal attacks we oftentimes act surprised. I had no idea this innocent flirting in the office would cost me my marriage. I had no idea fudging the numbers at work would land me in jail. I had no idea this porn addiction would cost me my family.

The list of deadly animals we allow into our homes and lives could go on and on. We have got to understand that sin is dangerous, sin will destroy and one day sin will eventually bring death. We have got to stop thinking sin is harmless, we have got to stop thinking it's just a little sin or a minor sin. The cute little Bengal Tiger the family brought into their home has grown into a 400 pound natural born killer. I believe it is just a matter of time before we read about this couple meeting their "untimely death".

Christ came and conquered sin and death. He is the only one who can subdue the beast. He is the only one who has destroyed Satan. Through his death, burial and resurrection he has ultimately destroyed the power of sin and can heal the wounds it may have already inflicted. Don't wait and become sin's next victim. Take a step right now to get the deadly beast out of the house.