for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus Romans 3: 23-24 ESV I walked in the house and noticed a smell. Where was it coming from? It seemed to be everywhere. What is this stench and how do I get rid of it?!? And then my searching led to... myself. I was the source of the stink. It wasn't from a forgotten dirty diaper or trash that needed to be taken out... the stench was from me.
Even with the use of deodorant my daily activities and the ridiculously hot weather left me... reeking. Now the question, how to get rid of my odor issue? There was always the go-to deodorant or perfume, but those would only mask my stink, probably lacking in their effectiveness. I needed a shower or bath. I needed to get clean. Isn't my stinky situation just like our problem of sin? We're drenched in it from our daily living and we stink to God, if we're not in Jesus. Oh, it's not that bad you might say... but let's examine our issue from a distance to give us some perspective. Jesus says the first commandment is " 'love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself' " (Matthew 22: 37-39, NIV). When we fail to do these two things we sin. The Ten Commandments, (Deuteronomy 5: 6-21) spell out how we are to keep right with the Lord. However, if we truthfully judge ourselves we realize that we just can't do it (stay right with God on our own). We desperately need God's grace, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23, NIV). To be right with God, to be in relationship with Him, He can not allow any sin. If we read Isaiah 64: 5b-6 NIV we get a better idea of what our sin looks like to the Lord, "How then can we be saved? All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags". Filthy rags? All of the goodness I do apart from Christ is seen as filthy rags to God? That sounds pretty harsh, unless you compare our "good deeds" which have the stench of sin attached to them to the perfect, clean, holiness of the LORD. (If you think about a rag left outside for weeks left to the elements versus perfectly cleaned, white laundry you get a mental image of the disparaging difference.) We just don't match up, and never will, to the holy perfection of God. Thankfully, though, that's not the end of the story. From the beginning the LORD Almighty had a plan of redemption for us through Jesus Christ. The Lord's grace is seen throughout the Old Testament as he redeems His repentant, sinful children and brings them back to relationship with Him. However, in the Old Testament though God was close with the Israelites, there was still distance. The only way to access Him was through the priests and sacrifices. When Jesus came into the world, he ate with, drank with, and befriended sinners. Jesus ate with, drank with, befriended us. He developed close personal relationships with His followers. He is God with skin. I really can't wrap my mind around it, but I believe it. After he lived his perfect life, died an innocent death, and rose from the dead he offers all who believe in Him a personal relationship with the LORD Almighty through belief in Him, Jesus Christ. He says the only way to the Father is through the Son (John 14:6-7). We all carry the sin-stink. We get cleaned and we lose the permanent stink of sin when we are bathed in the righteousness of the Lord through the blood of Jesus Christ. We are given the gift of faith through God and when we respond by seeking his forgiveness we are transformed and redeemed (Romans 3:24). We give our lives to the LORD. He, not our earthly desires, becomes our master (Romans 6:11-14). And as servants for the LORD we have a challenging walk to walk by living in grace through our faith in Christ and living on earth wrecked with sin. If we don't cling to the LORD through prayer, reading the Bible, and repenting for our sins we can find ourselves distanced from the LORD and listening to voices other than the Holy Spirit. Our walk with the Lord isn't something we just do on Sunday at service time, but it's a daily, hourly, moment-to-moment personal relationship with our God and Creator. Sometimes I think, I'm really struggling with _____ I'm going to ask so-and-so to pray for me... and then I remember I can bring my problem to the Lord I don't have to go through anyone. I have direct access. So do you! It's vital to stay in the Word (Bible) and in a community of believers who holds us accountable for our sins and to the LORD. Not unlike my stinky situation earlier-- if I am stinky and choose to ignore it... eventually I quit noticing the smell, even when it gets worse... my nose will eventually lose its sensitivity. Our relationship with the LORD works similarly, if we keep on sinning without repentance we lose our sense of smell to the stench of sin and quit listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit. The Bible calls it a "hardened heart." I've had friends call me out when they thought I wasn't living in a right way with God. (Note: accountability partners are very special friendships and require a deep level of trust and Christ-seeking hearts.) It doesn't feel good when my sin is brought out and put before me... in fact it feels pretty rotten. I've even been defensive. However, if I look at it in a different way-- not as someone putting me down, but as if I was going to a doctor, an expert-- I wouldn't want a doctor to say, "yeah, you're sick." I'd want them to tell me-- "You have an ear infection and here's how we're going to address it." If I'm left ignorant of my sin, then I'm sick and getting sicker... but if the light of Christ shines on my sin then the Great Physician (Jesus) can heal my sin. And it starts with my recognition of my sin and repentance of it. The medicine of repentance and contrition may "hurt" (i.e. require humility, forgiveness, reconciliation, making amends...) because a journey back to rightness with the LORD after a detour down the path of sin is a journey. Ultimately, however, a right relationship with the Lord Jesus brings healing and rest (Philippians 4:7). Someone who is in a right relationship with the LORD will also bear the fruits of that right relationship: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-26). Someone who is filled with all those virtues sounds like someone I'd like to be. Thankfully, if we continue to seek the face of the LORD and a right relationship with Him, we will continue to be transformed in the likeness of Christ and bear the fruits of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:16-17). To God be the glory, Sarah Prayer: Lord, I feel the weight of sin on me. It keeps me from you, if I don't bring everything-- the bad and the ugly, to you and repent of my sinful ways. Jesus, save me from the sin that so easily entangles. You are the only Savior and the only way to eternal life. Lord Jesus, I believe in you as my Savior, that you lived a perfect life, died for my sins, and rose again to defeat death so I may know you and one day live with you in heaven. Jesus, guard my heart and mind with your peace so I may run the race that you have marked out just for me and have the endurance to finish well. Lord, in your mercy, hear my prayer.
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