In the center of a town stood a giant oak tree that had been planted there many decades earlier to mark the founding of the town. The tree was massive and had proven that it could withstand any storm. Through wind, rain, sleet, and snow, it had held its ground. Through spring, summer, fall, and winter, it had remained. The tree was an abiding symbol of strength for the townspeople, and they had come to think of it as an object lesson for the strength of the town.

Then one day an unimpressive little storm blew through the town and to the horror of the townspeople brought down the giant oak. Because such a thing seemed unimaginable, an investigation was immediately begun. A tree expert was brought in to examine the felled giant. Everybody in the town wanted to know what could have possibly happened to their tree.

It didn’t take long for the expert to render his verdict. Years earlier, the tree had become infested with a certain type of boring worm that systematically destroys oak trees from the inside out. The end result was a severely damaged tree that was much more susceptible to wind. Had the townspeople been paying closer attention to their tree, they could have stopped the infestation before it was too late. But that window of opportunity had long since passed.

Like those worms that eventually brought down that oak, something that initially appears small and inconsequential can get into your life and ultimately cause your fall. An adulterous affair starts with playful flirting. Drug addiction starts with, “I’ll try it just this once.” Murder starts with hatred in the heart. Theft starts with coveting what someone else has. These facts hold true for one and all, whether the person be a Christian or not. The process is nothing less than sin’s universal way of incessantly creeping, gradually poisoning, and finally destroying.

To keep this process from playing itself out in your life, you must be vigilant to guard yourself. Don’t dabble with sin. Don’t toy with it. Don’t rationalize it or try to minimize it. See it for what it is: a boring worm that won’t stop until you are lying on the ground from it. Only by remaining vigilant and resisting sin’s allure can you remain tall and strong.

Most readers will finish this post and never think about it again, but my guess is that some readers will be brought under conviction over “worms” of sin they have allowed to bore into their lives. If you are such a person, let me urge you as strongly as I can to take the post as your warning from God and deal with your sin. If you have never made the decision to believe in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, look to Him, the divine One who died on a cross so that all your sins might be forgiven. By believing in Him, you will not only experience complete forgiveness but also be given the strength to repent of your sin and resist it going forward. On the other hand, if you know Jesus as Savior, what you must do is access the spiritual strength He has already given you by way of the indwelling Holy Spirit and put that strength to use by repenting of your sin.

You see, your tree doesn’t have to fall. If, however, you refuse to deal with your sin, you can expect a great crash at some point. It will simply be a matter of waiting on the right storm to blow your way and send you toppling. Friends, neighbors, and family members will hear about your fall and wonder what happened, but what they won’t know is that the fall began many months or many years earlier. It just took your “worms” time to get their job done.