I read my news.  It’s the only way that I have time to filter through all that’s reported and find articles worth reading.  I’ve saved one such article since July 11th, 2014 and can hold onto it no longer.   

In Georgetown, Texas, a burglar broke into a home through a first-story window and had hoped to make off with some good “loot.”  Unfortunately for the burglar, the homeowner was present, woke up, noticed a flashlight dancing under his bedroom door, leapt out of bed and decided to confront the man.  

The bedroom door burst open where the face-off would begin.  That confrontation ended as quickly as it started.  Upon sight of the homeowner the burglar screamed, “I’m so sorry, sir!  I’m so sorry, sir!” ran down the hallway, jumped head-first out of the window then tore off into the night, never to be seen again.  

The homeowner reported to police that when he jumped out of bed, he had remembered to grab his 9mm handgun from the nightstand before confronting the burglar, but he had forgotten his clothes.  The homeowner’s description of the ordeal was, “I have a tattoo of the grim reaper, my hair is sticking up all crazy and I’m naked.  I’m not sure if the burglar was more afraid of me or the gun.”  

Effective?  Yes.  For the record, this approach is not in the self-defense handbook, so you can cancel your appointment with the local tattoo parlor.  Despite the permanent memory-scars that the burglar will have to live with, he is still alive, which makes him one lucky burglar in my book.  

As a parent, I’ve noticed something interesting about my prayers for my girls.  Yes, I pray that they are strong enough to withstand temptation, but then I add, “And please let my daughters learn quickly from their wrongdoing, so that their scars are not as great.”  

So many times our sins come with “warning shots,” if you will.  The Spirit will warn our hearts, loving friends will warn us, the Bible warns us, we note the natural consequences of our actions, but even after all of that, we so often continue living the same way.  The reason we persist is because we believe we’re good enough to “manage.”  That’s part of the deceit of sin.  We believe that we’re managing it, when in fact, it’s managing us. 

Then comes the day when we enter through an opening of our own making and we find ourselves standing in darkness, facing something larger and worse than we had imagined, armed with nothing but a flashlight.  Essentially, my prayer is “May we have enough light to get out of the window in time.”  

My challenge for you is to be mindful and prayerful about decisions you’re making now.  Are warnings present?  If they are don’t just try to manage them.  Heed them.  Take what little bit of guidance you have from the light available, get out and run, before much deeper scars are earned.  

Pastor Travis Montgomery