Just A Thought #39- The Trojan Horse

Most everyone has heard the legend of the Trojan Horse. If not here is a brief Wikipedia review:

In the best-known version, after a fruitless 10-year siege of Troy, the Greeks built a huge figure of a horse, inside which a select force of 30 men hid. The Greeks pretended to sail away, and the Trojans pulled the Horse into their city as a victory trophy. That night the Greek force crept out of the Horse and opened the gates for the rest of the Greek army, which had sailed back under cover of night. The Greek army entered and destroyed the city of Troy, decisively ending the war.

Recently, I encountered a trojan horse via my computer. I received a notice in the form of a pop- up, which said my computer was infected with a virus and that I needed new virus protection to deal with it. I made the mistake of clicking cancel on this thing I thought was just an innocent pop- up, and the next day my computer had been infected. I could not open any programs except one browser. It had been infected with a fake antivirus program that was causing problems with my whole system. This thing came in while I was unaware, weakened my system and cut my effectiveness in half.

Sin is like that, too. You may think you are just innocently touching it and the next thing you know your whole system is infected. Sin weakens us, cuts our effectiveness, and leaves us feeling frustrated and worn out. I spent hours trying to fix this computer glitch. I am saddened to admit I don't spend that much time dealing with sin in my own life. I want to change that. When sin crops up I don't just want to repent, I want to get to the root and see it dug out, find out where I let the enemy get a foothold and deal with it.

The only way I could get my computer fixed was to open it in safe mode and restore it to an earlier point. The same thing holds true in my walk with God. When I stumble, I need to retreat to a safe place. That place is in the shadow of His wings! Psalm 57:1 says it best, "Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed."

In that safe place I can turn again to the Lord. I can repent and let Him restore me.

I can also make sure I have proper "virus" protection. I can remember the words of 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 (I could tell you what it says but wouldn't you enjoy looking it up?) and make sure I have on the full armor of God! (Ephesians 6:10-18)

So stay alert, stand on guard and stay in the Word. Take every thought captive and cling to the Father!