A couple of weeks ago I was sitting at the piano practicing my primitive skills and trying to acquire some new ones when I was confronted by an unpleasant odor. The most logical thing to do was to check the bathroom just down the hall because the kids had most likely forgotten to flush the toilet again. That was not the problem. After a while I decided that it must be the stagnant water in the fish tank. After all, the fish had not been retrieved before it disappeared into the filter, or where ever it went. I cleaned the entire fish tank and the filter, but there was no improvement in the air of the room. I was puzzled but decided to let it go, maybe it would pass. As the days went by the intensity of the scent increased and I became convinced that a mouse had died somewhere in that vicinity. A search of the piano's interior revealed nothing. Checking behind furniture was fruitless. Perhaps the creature had suffered it's demise in the closet. I had no time at present to clean the closet, I was on my way to work at the music boosters concession stand for the basketball game. I came home that night to an unpleasant welcome; my greeting was the smell of rotting flesh. Yuck! But there were other priorities on my list and I let it go again.
Today is Thursday so I had my first grade Bible class on my mind this morning. I got ready and went to the church early to meet with the other teachers and workers so we could plan for the rest of the school year. I taught the class, and as the kids hurried back to school I rejoiced that the Lord had seen me through a difficult lesson to teach. Coming home to begin some preparation for dinner I was again met at the door by the dreaded stench. As I thought about my friend who had just offered to babysit for me the following night I hated the thought that she would be greeted in this way. I prayed, "Lord please help this smell to disperse quickly." At about the same moment I looked up (I believe my eyes were led there by the Father himself) and saw it. There was a pumpkin sitting on the sill. On the outside it looked very much like paper mache, but on the inside it was very much a real pumpkin. I can't quite describe how thankful I was for such an immediate answer to prayer. It is always a blessing to be so reassured that the creator of the universe hears and helps me even in the seemingly ordinary situations in life.
The odor which I presumed to be a dead mouse turned out to be the rotting flesh of a pumpkin. The item that I now believed likely to be hiding in the crawlspace under my feet was actually right there in front of my eyes. It was sitting on the ceramic sill waiting to be easily disposed of. I felt a twinge of sadness as I tossed a child's craft project across the stream and into the woods, however, my joy at having eliminated the source of my torment outweighed my regret. The thing about an odor is that it lingers even after the source has been dealt with. I lit a candle to help out with the remaining offense, but it was a cover up at best. I soon went to the cupboard and found a specialized odor eliminating candle to defeat the smell clinging to the air.
Let's for a moment think of the rotten pumpkin as our sin. Anything we have ever done that is hurtful is sin. God is love and so his greatest commandments are "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and Love your neighbor as yourself." In Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus quoted these words from the old testament. In fact he goes on to say in verse 40, "All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Any sin we can think of is ultimately a violation of these two commandments as well as an affront to the very nature of God. We are all guilty of this. In Isaiah 53:6 we find that "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way." If you've ever thought that you are alone in this take heart, we're all in it together. The good news for us is in the second part of that verse, "and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." The "him" is Jesus Christ. He paid the penalty for all of our sins and when we turn to him and trust him as our Savior he eliminates our rotten pumpkins.
Like the lasting stench I dealt with today the consequences of our sin don't always disappear as instantly as the rotten pumpkin, for example: the drug user who turns to Christ is forgiven, but still has an addiction to deal with. There is hope though. Trying to overcome these things on our own is a cover up at best much like my scented candle, but the Holy Spirit has the power to deal with the lingering odor. He will be the odor eliminating candle that will cancel out the habits and addictions that continue to haunt us. He will be the pleasing aroma that spreads through our lives extending to the world around us. He will be with us and help us to confess and repent before another rotten pumpkin begins to wreak havoc in our lives. He will be there to clean up the mess if we fail to throw the pumpkin out before we smell its effect. He will be there reminding us that we are God's children and will someday take up residence in the fragrance filled halls of heaven where no rot or stench will ever accost us again. I am pleased to report that my home now has an inviting fragrance, how much more blessed we are when His fragrance fills our lives.
Today is Thursday so I had my first grade Bible class on my mind this morning. I got ready and went to the church early to meet with the other teachers and workers so we could plan for the rest of the school year. I taught the class, and as the kids hurried back to school I rejoiced that the Lord had seen me through a difficult lesson to teach. Coming home to begin some preparation for dinner I was again met at the door by the dreaded stench. As I thought about my friend who had just offered to babysit for me the following night I hated the thought that she would be greeted in this way. I prayed, "Lord please help this smell to disperse quickly." At about the same moment I looked up (I believe my eyes were led there by the Father himself) and saw it. There was a pumpkin sitting on the sill. On the outside it looked very much like paper mache, but on the inside it was very much a real pumpkin. I can't quite describe how thankful I was for such an immediate answer to prayer. It is always a blessing to be so reassured that the creator of the universe hears and helps me even in the seemingly ordinary situations in life.
The odor which I presumed to be a dead mouse turned out to be the rotting flesh of a pumpkin. The item that I now believed likely to be hiding in the crawlspace under my feet was actually right there in front of my eyes. It was sitting on the ceramic sill waiting to be easily disposed of. I felt a twinge of sadness as I tossed a child's craft project across the stream and into the woods, however, my joy at having eliminated the source of my torment outweighed my regret. The thing about an odor is that it lingers even after the source has been dealt with. I lit a candle to help out with the remaining offense, but it was a cover up at best. I soon went to the cupboard and found a specialized odor eliminating candle to defeat the smell clinging to the air.
Let's for a moment think of the rotten pumpkin as our sin. Anything we have ever done that is hurtful is sin. God is love and so his greatest commandments are "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and Love your neighbor as yourself." In Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus quoted these words from the old testament. In fact he goes on to say in verse 40, "All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Any sin we can think of is ultimately a violation of these two commandments as well as an affront to the very nature of God. We are all guilty of this. In Isaiah 53:6 we find that "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way." If you've ever thought that you are alone in this take heart, we're all in it together. The good news for us is in the second part of that verse, "and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." The "him" is Jesus Christ. He paid the penalty for all of our sins and when we turn to him and trust him as our Savior he eliminates our rotten pumpkins.
Like the lasting stench I dealt with today the consequences of our sin don't always disappear as instantly as the rotten pumpkin, for example: the drug user who turns to Christ is forgiven, but still has an addiction to deal with. There is hope though. Trying to overcome these things on our own is a cover up at best much like my scented candle, but the Holy Spirit has the power to deal with the lingering odor. He will be the odor eliminating candle that will cancel out the habits and addictions that continue to haunt us. He will be the pleasing aroma that spreads through our lives extending to the world around us. He will be with us and help us to confess and repent before another rotten pumpkin begins to wreak havoc in our lives. He will be there to clean up the mess if we fail to throw the pumpkin out before we smell its effect. He will be there reminding us that we are God's children and will someday take up residence in the fragrance filled halls of heaven where no rot or stench will ever accost us again. I am pleased to report that my home now has an inviting fragrance, how much more blessed we are when His fragrance fills our lives.
I liked your analogy. :)
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