Pulling Nails and Weeds
 
“Because we have these promises,dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from
everything that can defile [contaminate; pollute] our body or spirit.And let
us work toward complete purity because we fear [soberly and
humbly revere] God.”–2 Corinthians 7:1 (NLT)
 
A pastor in the dreadfully poor country of Haiti illustrated the
need for total commitment to purity by telling about aman who
wanted to sell his house for $2,000. Another man wanted very
much to buy it, but he did not want to pay the full price. After
much bargaining, the owner agreed to sell the house for less than
the original price with just one stipulation: he would retain total
ownership of one small nail protruding fromjust over the door.
After several years, the original owner demanded the house
back, but the new owner refused to sell. So the first owner went
out, found the fresh carcass of a dead pig, and hung it from the
single nail he still owned. For obvious reasons, the house quickly
became unlivable, and the family was forced to sell the house
back to the owner of the nail.
 
This parable graphically captures the need for “comprehensive
Christlikeness.”Whenever we knowingly agree to leave even one
small nail of evil in our lives,we’re bound to find rotting garbage
on our front doorstep! Since “anyone…who knows the good he
ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins” (Jas 4:17) and “everything
that does not come from faith is sin” (Rom 14:23), let’s draw on
God’s power to yank out even the hidden nails! Then, rather
than offending people with the “smell of death,” we can be “a
life-giving perfume” wherever we go (2 Cor 2:16)!
 
For Discussion: The “these promises” in 2 Corinthians 7:1 refer back to the
aspects of the New Covenantmentioned in 6:14-18.Read those verses and
discuss how they, along with the concluding phrase of 7:1, do or should
impact your progressive growth of holiness (sanctification).
 
Family Activity: Instead of pulling nails from your house, go out and pull
weeds from your yard. Talk about the process of “spiritual weeding”while
you symbolically rid yourself of unwanted weeds (sins).Why do you pull
them by the roots?What happens if you leave them? How do you prevent
them?
 
“Give me 100 men who hate nothing but sin and love God with all their
hearts and I will shake the world for Christ!”–JohnWesley