Judges 4:20 ( NLT)
“Stand in the doorway of the tent,” he told her. “If anybody comes and asks you if there is anyone here, say no.”
Diabetes, heart disease, and cancer are the number one killers in our country today. They rob you of your resources, your energy, and your way of life; they unravel households and bring sadness to your loved ones. They are not your friends; they are your enemies.
These diseases have one purpose in mind, and that is to usher in your death. Yet often they first appear as harmless words like “pre-diabetes,” or “elevated blood pressure,” or “just a few lab irregularities.” When words like those are used to describe the enemy, we don’t take them seriously, and we give them a place in our home, even aiding their treacherous progress with our own lifestyles.
As time goes by, these enemies take over. We no longer call the shots; the disease does. Now we must alter our lives to accommodate it with stents to keep the blood flowing through our hearts, dialysis three times a week to help our kidneys flush out toxins, or several rounds of chemo and radiation. And to think it all started with giving comfort to a pack of cigarettes, Twinkies, excessive fatty meats, binge drinking, drugs, that sugary beverage you just can’t let go of, or that unending search for wealth that only allows you three hours of sleep each night.
What is your enemy? What do you give comfort to, that you know will destroy you one day? My prayer for you today is that you’ll be able to identify your enemy and recognize how it has oppressed and destroyed others and will do exactly the same thing to you. May you have the courage to do just as the woman referenced in the scripture above does—drive a stake through its head.
