Killing the Dogs

Killing Dogs
(An analogy)

“For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” (Rom. 8:13)

If I had a dog nipping at my heels everywhere I went, and he kept biting my feet, I would only have two permanent solutions for the problem--either kill the dog, or cut off the foot! Killing the dog would be the easier of the two, since he may decide to nip at the other foot, but killing dogs can bring much reproach from society, no matter what the reason. Nonetheless, killing the dog would be less painful for us, and more convenient. We must kill the dog, in spite of the reproaches of men.
As Christians, we have a dog following us around, and nipping, or worse yet biting, at our feet. We must kill the dog, or lose the foot. Satan’s subordinates are a constant vexation to us, and yet we allow it to continue. Why not cut off the foot? We all have something that seems to attract the dogs, but usually only the “ankle biters”--the small dogs that become more of a pest than a major threat. If we got rid that which attracts these devils, we could be rid of them also, but we cannot do it! We are powerless unless we kill the dog. Therefore the best solution is to kill the dog. But what if, for some unknown reason, we are not able to do so? Then we must kill the foot!

Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: (Col. 3:5)

Since we find that we cannot alone kill the dog, we must consider cutting off the foot. That foot seems to attract the small dogs; we have no problem with the big dogs, they have already been dealt with by now, but those little ankle biters, they are the nuisances that vex us daily. What will it be? The foot, or the dog? Let’s “draw nigh” unto the Lord, and allow Him to kill the dog!