We took Josiah to get his staples out tonight. The ER was packed and he was not happy about being there. I told him we were just getting the staples out, but he said he didn't want to. I tried to explain to him that he was going to feel better after they took them out. But he said no. He likes the staples. I just couldn't convince him that he would be better off without those two staples in his head. What he knew was that the last time we were at the hospital getting the staples hurt. What he knew was that touching the staples was certainly uncomfortable and could hurt. What he knew was that if no one touched them and they were left alone they didn't hurt.
What's in our lives that's like Josiah's staples? Old ways of thinking. Bad habits. Borrowed faith. Things that at one time helped us, but are hindering us now. Crutches we used but no longer have any need for. But if nobody touches them they don't hurt. If no one messes with or enters that area everything's ok.
What Josiah didn't know was that he would actually be better off without the staples. It's the same thing we don't realize. When we think something's harmless, or that we can't let it go.
We need to get rid of those old bothersome staples by renewing ourselves and our minds in Christ.
Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything - and I do mean everything - connected with that old way of life has to go. It's rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life - a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.
Ephesians 4:22-24
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