When a MMA fighter leaves himself exposed to a superman punch he is most likely going to be knocked out. One punch. Gone. Good night Irene! Exposing a weakness to an opponent is never a good thing.
The Bible talks a lot about exposure. I am not talking about a guy running onto a baseball field naked making a fool of himself. But it does, somewhat, coincide. Proverbs 25:28 says, “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.” We are to protect our emotions wisely or we could look like that guy on the baseball diamond.
Back in the day, cities were protected from their enemies by walls. Without these walls the citizenship would be left exposed to enemy attack. In this case, the writer equates having “no rule over his own spirit” to one who can’t keep control of his emotions and desires. He leaves himself exposed to his enemies. No walls. Totally open to attack! A one way road to destruction.
You may of heard the expression, “He was caught with his pants down.” When a person can’t keep control of their emotions and desires then it’s like walking around in a shopping mall with your pants down. This kind of exposure brings humiliation, ridicule, and most likely arrest.
Listen, Satan wants you out of control. He wants you to be a city without walls. He wants you walking around with your pants down. He wants you to become easy prey for destruction. He wants you exposed to his superman punch so he can incapacitate you. Don’t let it happen! God has much bigger things for you to do. Build your spiritual walls of protection and get real with God and with others about your potential exposure areas. Then do all you can to close them up so when Satan’s punches come, and they will come, you will be able to withstand the blows and fight back with God’s help.
Home Application
Start building your spiritual walls of protection. You do this by getting real and transparent with your exposure areas.
Protection Check Question: Is there an area of your life that you have not given over to God; anger, bitterness, addiction, desire, that is exposing you to great spiritual, financial, physical, relational, and emotional danger?
Prayer of Protection: If there is an area of exposure, give that over to God in prayer.
Accountability: Get an accountability partner that you trust. You will need this person as the attacks come.
Be in the word of God. This will give you wisdom to see those potential exposure areas.
Be wise: Understand your areas of exposure and make sure not to put yourself in a place where you can be easily defeated.
The bottom line is simple, “Don’t leave yourself exposed.” #exposed #dontgetcaughtwithyourpantsdown #spiritualwalls
David Towner is the author of Today Is My Favorite Day and the Pastor of The Harbor Church in Odessa, FL. He is married to Tonya and together they have three daughters Shana, Kari, and Rebekah and four grandsons Caleb, Cohen, Cade, and Jack.