Spiritual Whac-A-Mole

I ran across this quote a moment ago from John Owen, an amazing old Puritan, 

"Let not that man think he makes any progress in holiness who walks not over the bellies of his lusts. He who doth not kill sin in his way takes no steps towards his journey’s end. He who finds not opposition from it, and who sets not himself in every particular to its mortification, is at peace with it, not dying to it.” 

(From his book Mortification of Sin In Believers). 

My interpretation: As sin steps into your path dispatch it with all the urgency of a carnival game. Spiritual Whac-a-Mole.