I was having a massive wasp problem on my porch, so I looked for a solution. I ended up stuffing brown paper bags with plastic grocery bags, drawing a one-inch black circle on the bottom, and hanging them up. It worked like a charm! Wasps will fly near the porch, but they absolutely refuse to build a nest there. Why? Because it looks exactly like a hornet’s nest. Hornets eat wasps, so wasps stay far away.
What does that have to do with us? 1 Thessalonians 5:22 commands us to ‘Abstain from all appearance of evil.’ To a wasp, that fake nest represents ultimate danger. Even though the bag is completely harmless, the mere appearance of danger keeps them away. In the same way, we need to stay away from anything that even looks like sin. We shouldn’t want to be anywhere near something that could compromise our walk with God.
In fact, scripture gives us a direct command for dealing with these dangers: we are told to flee. We see this urgent instruction across multiple verses, including 2 Timothy 2:22, 1 Corinthians 10:14, 1 Corinthians 6:18, and 1 Timothy 6:11. The Greek word used for “flee” in these passages is pheugo, which means to run away, seek safety, or escape. Just like the wasps immediately fly away from the porch when they see the fake hornet’s nest, scripture commands Christians to actively run away from situations that tempt them to sin.
It is imperative to our walk with God that we not flirt with temptation. If it looks like it can harm your walk with God, stay away, run away. As it says in 1 Timothy 6:11 But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.
Hebrews 12:1 (NKJV) Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
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