Tuesday, August 12, 2014

By: Rachelle Hitt Bilbo

Feed Me Seymour

Luke 22:40 And when He came to the place, He said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation."

On Sunday, my husband shared a tremendous message in our church that I think we can all relate to. I will not attempt to summarize his entire message into a 3 minute devotion, but I would like to share one of his illustrations.

He played a clip from a 1980s movie entitled, "Little Shop of Horrors." In this movie, plant shop caretaker, Seymour, obtains a mysterious plant that looks like a large venus flytrap. However, the plant does not thrive in its new environment and appears to be dying.

Soon after though, he accidentally pricks his finger on a rose thorn, which draws blood, and the plant's pod opens thirstily.

Seymour realizes that the plant requires blood to survive and allows the plant to suckle from his finger. As the plant grows, it becomes an attraction and starts generating brisk business.

However, Seymour has a difficult time providing enough blood to keep the plant healthy ... resulting in a nightmare for Seymour.

As ridiculous as the premise of this movie is, there is a deep truth in it. There are bad habits, relationships and other strongholds that will ONLY grow in our lives if we FEED them.

This plant was literally sucking the life out of Seymour. There are things in all of our lives that have the potential to suck the life out of us if we allow them to ... if we feed them. However, when we do give in to our flesh and feed our sin nature, that habit only grows bigger, requiring more from us.

I challenge you to evaluate your life today to determine whether there is anything you are "feeding" that should instead be starved. There is never a better day than the present day to free yourself from the things that have you bound!

Dear Lord, Help me to starve the things in my life that have grown into hindrances and that have kept me bound! I want to experience ALL that You have to offer.

I thank You, my Jesus, for dying for me. I believe that You are Lord and that God raised You from the grave so that I can have eternal life.

Reflection: Is there something in your life that you need to stop "feeding?"