“Dave” was working out of town. Arrangements had been made for him to stay at the house of a family who was away from home for a couple of days. He was given a key and told to make himself at home.

As he was working on his computer late that night, Dave was startled by a rat. With a rush of adrenaline, he killed the pesky vermin with his shoe. Only later did he notice the empty gerbil cage with its door open.

What Dave did turned out to be a mistake, but his instincts were good, and I agree with his philosophy—“If it looks like a rat, kill it!”

The Bible says that we should avoid even the appearance of evil (Eph. 5:3). We should eliminate any relationship, speech pattern or behavioral tendencies that can be harmful to our walk with Christ and our witness to the world.

What “rat” do you need to kill?