Ow! I got stung!
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.” John 10:1-5
It hurts to be stung by a bee. I should know. The first sting I remember was when I sat on hornet as a child when my parents had company over. Ow. And embarrassing. I don’t have a long history of bee stings like some people do, but in my late 40s I found myself walking through the yard with a dog on a leash when ow – I got stung! There was a little mark of blood and swelling and a rash for days. Then guess what. On another day, I got stung again! Ow! Then guess what happened on another day. I got stung again. Within weeks, I had been stung over and over. In the very same place! Not the same place on my body. The same place in my yard! Coming through the side door instead of the front door. I vaguely considered doing something about these nasty bees but quickly turned my attention elsewhere. Until one day I was cruising through the very same area and got STUNG by a HORNET. This was no ordinary bee. That hornet drove hard into the back of my leg. Dagnammit! I cried aloud. Thankfully, the Lord had delivered me from my cursing days. Because this hornet really drove itself into me. Why wouldn’t these bees just leave me alone?! Because I was walking where I shouldn’t have been walking and hadn’t gotten rid of the bees! This time, when I finished walking, I came through the front door where I knew there would be no bees, stings & dagnammits! I would have to get rid of those bees. And I had finally come to my senses and decided to stop walking where I shouldn’t be walking.
As much as the sting hurt, I was grateful it happened. Because I knew not more than ½ hour afterward the Holy Spirit had given me a message through this for others. It may even be you.
Some of you are walking where you shouldn’t be walking. Doing something you know God doesn’t want you doing. You know it’s wrong and you’ve refused to turn away from it. You’ve refused to repent of it. You’ve refused to let it got. You know you shouldn’t be walking there. Whatever it is you’re holding onto, it’s time to let it go. You’ve been blaming the stings of the consequences on everyone else and everything else even God. It’s time to take responsibility for where you’ve been walking, repent, walk away from it, and turn to the Lord and walk where you should be walking. With Him!