“Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.” (Ephesians 4:8 KJV)

During the summer I have repaired the greenhouse’s fence side broken glass.  In so doing I have closed the entrance for the mice who set up home in the cold weather.  It required taking down the neighbouring fence to gain access to the panes; hence the delay – well that is my excuse.  Now, instead the mice have moved into the adjoining work shed.

To solve the problem I bought a mouse catcher where I leave sunflower seeds and a bit of peanut butter as bait within which they seem to be attracted to. 

The first one I caught I released in the local park a few weeks ago.  It went off jigging left and then right as it sprinted into the bushes.  “Job done,” I thought.  Over the next few days I found out that he was not alone.  I caught another six mice of different shapes and sizes but I sensed the first one had returned.   So, after search online, I found out how far they can travel.  It transpires they can find their way back from quite a distance.  OH DEAR!

I transported the subsequent mice by car further up the road on the edge of the town.  Hopefully this was far enough away from home for them not to return.

Finally after several visits I managed to outsmart the initial interloper.  This involved getting a new trap and modifying it to prevent his means of his escape as he had gnawed his way out of the first one.  Now I have taken him up to the fields for him to leap out and join his co-conspirators, thus far with no further signs of a return.

There are seasons in my life when unhelpful stuff sneaks in like the mice in the shed.  As fast as I close one door to sneaky thoughts and wrong attitudes they seem to wheedle their way back in through another until they are taken captive.   If I am diligent, they may have to try harder to enter my heart the second, third or fourth time around but they use anything I watch on the TV, robbing me of my peace, clarity, and restraint, as I become sucked into the world.  Unless we are to become hermits, and even when we do, we may, via our own fallen nature, allow for unhelpful stuff to come right on in and take residence in our souls.

Without Jesus to take the unhelpful stuff out from our beings we are surely lost to the world’s influence about us nibbling away at our beings making home.  Praise God in Jesus we can declare His sovereignty over our pride, failures and weakness!  We can choose to humbly seek Him to reign who has taken captivity captive because Jesus has the authority to takes our sins that hold us far away: as far as the East is from the West and order is restored. 

We only have to humble ourselves and ask.

Prayer: LORD, when we become vulnerable temptations of ourselves, and the world that rob us of Your peace and presence within, grant us Your gift of forgiveness.  When there seems to be no hope; take away the thoughts that hold and bind us captive, may we know Your Holy Spirit’s deliverance, Light and Love that comes from trusting in our walk with Jesus in His name, amen.

Rod Marshall