Last night, I walked into my room and saw a stink bug on my green curtains that drape over rods above my window with two swoops. It was perched up there with a proud look steaming out of its antennas--like a king watching over his kingdom, my bedroom. His countenance changed as I, the intruder, approached. I hopped up onto by bed, grabbed a piece of paper lying on my nightstand, and set about the disposal of my enemy. I was just going to get it on to the paper and take it to the bathroom where I could flush it down the toilet to its eternal damnation. However, as I tried to get it to crawl onto the paper, the stink bug began to escape to the backside of the curtain. Persistent to proceed, I simply pulled on the curtain, hoping to give myself a better angle at getting the stink bug. But, to my utmost horror, in doing so, I revealed four stink bugs, happily snuggled together in the fold of my curtain. Mortified, I let out a squealish moan and fled the room.
I ran out to where my mom was and attempted to explain what I found. "I, I... ah!! There's... I, I, I found...ah!! Just come!" She followed me back to my room where I showed her my disgusting discovery. Then she got the little vacuum and sucked away the monsters. Nonetheless, as Mom was vacuuming, she pulled back more folds on the curtain and uncovered the real multitude. There were about ten stink bugs in the fold. I screamed and did this little jitter-dance, shaking the body of the vacuum that I had been holding. My mom kept finding more and more in each fold and I screamed at every revelation. A stink bug fell off the curtain and landed on the floor, right next to me. That sent my feet stamping and me screaming even more.
After hearing all the noise, my dad came into my room and exclaimed, "What is going on in here?" Then he helped us get both curtains down and he took them outside and shook them out. In the end, we had found at least 30 stink bugs in my room. I kid you not!
Reflecting back on all of this, I was trying to figure out how to apply this to real life. Then it hit me very clearly. It is important to understand the stink bugs did not magically, all of a sudden appear in my room in such large quantities. It was a gradual process for them to accumulate like that. In fact, I had even been realizing how many stink bugs were in my room. However, as much as I hate stink bugs, I also hate getting rid of them because that means I have to deal with them! As long as they are not actually bothering me, I typically leave them alone. A few weeks ago, my very observant niece was in my room and said, "Laura, there are a lot of stink bugs in here."
"Yeah, I know," I replied, but I didn't do anything. Then she proceeded to count them and tell me exactly how many stink bugs were in my room, "You really need to get rid of them!" (Maybe I should listen to her better!!) Obviously, we need to deal with problems before they accumulate to such an extreme.
The same is true with this problem we face called sin. Too often, we let sin build up in our lives. Either we think no one sees it, so it doesn't matter, or we don't even realize our actions are sinful. But then we do recognize a small problem. We work toward getting rid of it, but in doing so, we uncover the multitude we have been hiding. When pressure is finally applied, it stinks!
We try to get rid of this sin on our own, but we can't. We need our Dad, our Heavenly Father, to take it for us--to shake us out and wash us. And you know what? He says that if we confess our sin, He will forgive us and cleanse us (1 John 1:9). Even more amazingly, He will remember it no more (Isaiah 43:24).
So what's hiding in the folds of your life? Why don't you let your Father take it for you and make you clean?
Don't keep it hidden because sin is the real stench!
After hearing all the noise, my dad came into my room and exclaimed, "What is going on in here?" Then he helped us get both curtains down and he took them outside and shook them out. In the end, we had found at least 30 stink bugs in my room. I kid you not!
Reflecting back on all of this, I was trying to figure out how to apply this to real life. Then it hit me very clearly. It is important to understand the stink bugs did not magically, all of a sudden appear in my room in such large quantities. It was a gradual process for them to accumulate like that. In fact, I had even been realizing how many stink bugs were in my room. However, as much as I hate stink bugs, I also hate getting rid of them because that means I have to deal with them! As long as they are not actually bothering me, I typically leave them alone. A few weeks ago, my very observant niece was in my room and said, "Laura, there are a lot of stink bugs in here."
"Yeah, I know," I replied, but I didn't do anything. Then she proceeded to count them and tell me exactly how many stink bugs were in my room, "You really need to get rid of them!" (Maybe I should listen to her better!!) Obviously, we need to deal with problems before they accumulate to such an extreme.
The same is true with this problem we face called sin. Too often, we let sin build up in our lives. Either we think no one sees it, so it doesn't matter, or we don't even realize our actions are sinful. But then we do recognize a small problem. We work toward getting rid of it, but in doing so, we uncover the multitude we have been hiding. When pressure is finally applied, it stinks!
We try to get rid of this sin on our own, but we can't. We need our Dad, our Heavenly Father, to take it for us--to shake us out and wash us. And you know what? He says that if we confess our sin, He will forgive us and cleanse us (1 John 1:9). Even more amazingly, He will remember it no more (Isaiah 43:24).
So what's hiding in the folds of your life? Why don't you let your Father take it for you and make you clean?
Don't keep it hidden because sin is the real stench!
No comments:
Post a Comment