How to Get Rid of a Thief
By David M. Curtis
 

Once upon a time there was a man. This man was a carpenter. He decided to build for Himself a home. It took some time to build it. When it was completed it was beautiful. It was very large and it was several stories high. He then made for Himself a garden out side with every imaginable flower, fruit tree, and vegetable plant. It was a beautiful site to see. When He was all done, He said, “It is very good!” One evening he was on the porch swinging back and forth in His chair when He realized that although he had created for Himself what would be every man’s dream home He had no one to share it with. So one morning He decided He would set out on a journey to find for Himself someone who He could share all He had made with, a wife, who he could start a family with.

A few weeks later a traveler came through the area and discovered the empty home. This man was not very honorable, in fact he was a robber and a thief. The thief broke into the home and decided to stay a while. It did not take him very long before he had eaten all the food saved up in the pantry. He then went out into the garden and started eating all the food out there. A couple months had gone by and the thief began to think the owner would never return. He began throwing wild parties, which left the home in quite a mess. The dishes were never cleaned and the walls had holes in them from the wild parties he hosted. Before you knew it years had gone by and the home was quite run down.

One morning the owner of the home returned from His long journeys. He had traveled all over the world and had finally found for Himself the perfect bride. He had told her all about that beautiful home He had made for her. She was so excited as they came nearer and nearer to the home. They were shocked to find the house in the condition it was in. It looked horrible. The Owner felt so embarrassed standing there next to His bride, after saying all the wonderful things He had promised her.

As He drew nearer to the home He could see someone walking around inside the house through the window. The owner was realizing what might of happened. He came to the door and went inside and found the thief standing there looking with amazement at him. The thief said, “How dare you come in my house like that, who do you think you are?”

“I am the builder and owner of this house.” The owner replied.

With a shocked look on his face the thief regrouped himself and remembered how he would respond if this had ever happened. “Sir you must be mistaken, look around all these things are mine. I have lived in this home for years. All the people in this town can testify to that.” With that the thief gave the man a little wink, and said, “be gone with you, by the way, have you not heard that possession is 9/10ths of the law” “Hahaha” the thief laughed quietly thinking to himself how witty he was.

Out side was the bride looking in at this terrible scene. Inside stood a man who’s hopes were being dashed to pieces. Then an idea came to him. “Just one minute, you are a robber a thief and a liar, you have destroyed my home, Despite that fact I promised my bride this home and promised her it was going to be beautiful. I built this house and I am going to keep my word to her, no matter what it takes.”

A few moments passed as both men paused. “I will strike you a deal” said the thief. “ I will sell you this house at full market value that the house was worth at the time it was built, if you multiply that value by two. I must be paid in cash of course.” The owner could not believe His ears. He was a wealthy man and quite benevolent, and he wished for this robber to be out of His site, so he agreed to the terms. As they were signing the papers the thief said I have one last condition before I will sign this contract. Walk with me out side. He walked out onto the porch turned around and said, “You see that rusty old nail above the door? I want it stated in the contract that I own that little nail. I want it as a reminder of the wild nights I had here. I release everything else to you accept that little nail. Those are my terms accept them and I will sign right now and if you don’t we can forget the whole deal.”

So the stipulation was placed in the contract that the thief would own the rusty old nail above the door and everything else would go back to the ownership of the original owner for double the price it was worth when the house was at its prime. Despite the fact the house was run down and not worth a ¼ of the amount he paid, the deal was done. Both people signed the contract and the thief took his money and left.

As the following years passed the house was remodeled and made even more beautiful than it was before. The garden was made twice as lovely with the seeds the man and his bride brought back from their journeys together. The two had children which filled the home with singing and laughter. It all seemed like a fairy tale ending until one day the thief returned.

There he was eyes bulging out of his head, “ How could I ever of sold such a beautiful home?” He could not remember the horrid condition it was in when he left.That and he had no money left to show for it. He approached one of the children out side playing, when the Father looking out the window and saw what was happening. He went out side with his shotgun in His hand demanding that the thief leave and never return. “Get off my property or I will have you arrested for trespassing.” The thief had no choice but to leave.

He walked down the road kicking and swearing, mad at himself for selling that home. As he walked along he came across the foulest odor. It was a dead skunk. "Of all the luck” He grumbled to himself. Then all of a sudden he had an idea. His eyes got bigger and bigger.

The next morning, early before the sun came up, the children in the home cried out, “ewww yuck! what is that horrible smell? Daddy, Daddy wake up wake up, there is something downstairs that is making us sick.” So the Father went down stairs and looked around to find where that gross smell was coming from. And then He found it over the front door hanging on that old rusty nail. Quickly he went back inside to grab the broom so he could take that carcass away and bury it.

When He came out side He lifted up the backside of the broom handle and heard a strange laugh behind him. Just off the edge of his property stood the thief. “Hahahaha You can’t take that skunk down! That nail belongs to me, That is my property. See right here on the contract we both signed. If you take that skunk off that nail I will have the law after you for tampering with my property. Hahahahaa.”

So what could this father do? What would you do? Think about it a moment before reading the next paragraph. After you are done thinking about your answer go ahead and read what happened next.

The Father went inside and grabbed His hammer and came out side and removed the rusty nail with the skunk still on it. He walked over to the thief and handed him his property with that stinky old skunk on it, and said, “be gone with you and your property and never return. If I ever see you around my house again I will show you the other end of my shotgun.

So what does this story mean? What is the lesson we can learn from it? The house is your heart and mine. The builder is Jesus Christ. The thief is the devil, the rusty old nail is just one cherished sin. As long as we let just one cherished sin into our lives the devil can use it to stink up our lives. The answer is to let Jesus remove all the sin from the door to our hearts and have Him get rid of the devil once and for all from our lives. Could you think of any other way to handle the skunk above the door legally? The Cross of Jesus proved through the nails in His flesh that there was no other way. Our sins put the nails into Christ, through His grace let’s allow the Holy Spirit to help us take the nails out.