Hit the showers - Devotion for 7/9/07

Hit the Showers – Devotion for 7/9/07

Have you ever had an animal die in the wall of your house? Seriously, has a squirrel or a mouse died while it was inside of the wall of your house? We had a mouse or something die one time, and the odor becomes something awful as the animal is decomposing. We could light all the scented candles we wanted, and that would mask the odor for a while. We could spray all the stuff in the air to try to hide the odor, and that would for a little while as well. But ultimately, neither the candles or the sprays could completely hide the odor – and we ended up with a “fresh pine/rotting mouse” scent in the house. It is kinda like when you encounter someone who apparently is having difficulty with personal hygiene, and the aroma they are producing is . . . interesting. Sometimes as they try to hide this “interesting” aroma, they attempt to trick your olfactory receptors with plenty of cologne or perfume, but ultimately you can still detect that significant whiff of B.O. No matter how hard you try to hide these two types of odors that I’ve mentioned, there is really only one way to get rid of them – get rid of the thing producing the smell. Get rid of the odor-producing carcass (the mouse or squirrel, not the person). Take a shower.

However, many times we live our lives as Christians as if we are trying to cover up the odor of our lives. God speaks of this when He spoke to the prophet Isaiah: “Bring your worthless offerings no long, Incense is an abomination to Me” (Isaiah 1:13). God is condemning for the variety of ways they try to cover up the odor of their disobedience. Worthless offerings, incense, calling of assemblies, festivals and feasts – all ways that Israel would try to cover the offensive smells of their sins before God. But God wanted something different that just something to cover the odor. “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good; Seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow” (Isaiah 1:16-17). God gives them the prescription to get rid of the odor – “wash yourselves, make yourselves clean.” Get rid of the sin in your life – no amount of offerings, worship services, prayers, or even good deeds will cover up the sin if you allow it to remain. And in the place of that sin fill it with the good stuff, as Eugene Peterson puts it in The Message, “Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless.”