“Do not let the sun go down on your anger.” (Ephesians 4:26)

In yesterday’s DWOD, you heard about the nearly foot and a half (44cm) of snow that blanketed the Niagara Region of Canada last Friday.

The snow started falling around 2 a.m. It did not end until 6 p.m.

We had to clear about 6 inches of snow from the driveway just before 8 a.m. so Sulojana could get to work.

Three more times during the day, our sons Sathiya and Jaya had to shovel additional precipitation, so the driveway could remain clear all day long.

We did our civic duty to keep the sidewalk clear as well. But we didn’t stop there.

We went beyond the call of duty and kept the sidewalk in front of our neighbour’s house clear as well.

Did I mention that he was away so his driveway was still covered with snow?

Well, Bill came back on Saturday to find a sidewalk that was completely free of snow and a driveway that was packed with snow.

Sathiya offered to help Bill dig out his driveway, but he politely declined. He had already called for a snow plough to come and do the job for him.

Yes, it was an extreme measure. Yes, it was an expensive measure. Yet, it was a necessary measure at this stage of the game.

The contrast between our two driveways was glaring indeed.

The purpose of sharing this is not to pat ourselves on the back while applying a paddle to Bill’s back end.

The Holy Spirit used this incident to point out something significant to me that is worth sharing.

There are certain things in life that need to be removed as soon as possible.

The sooner the better.

Take anger, for example.

Your spouse does something that makes you angry. You froth and fume on the inside, but you do nothing about it. The snow starts piling up.

A few days later, the same spouse hurls some hurting words at you. Once again you rage internally, but do nothing externally. The pile gets higher.

This pattern repeats itself over and over again over the course of your marriage. The pile gets higher and harder.

One day you could get to the point where you need extreme measures to clear the drift.

Especially if the rage began to express itself in abusive behaviour. Or violence. Or worse.

No wonder God proposes this preventative measure: “Do not let the sun go down on your anger.”

In other words, don’t let it pile up.

Deal with it as soon as possible, before the end of the day.

The sooner the better.

Amen?