The other day I was riding in my freshly washed ride. Doesn’t it feel good to have your car or truck all cleaned up? As I approached a turn I saw it! There to my surprise was a leaking fire hydrant running water across the road. I couldn’t get over or turn around. I had to ease through it. Guess what happened? Yes, it got my vehicle dirty. I pulled over to take a look and it wasn’t really that bad. In my mind though it wasn’t clean anymore. On my way back guess what? Yes I had to drive back through the same water. Did I slow down this time? Nope, it was already dirty.
Sin is a lot like that. We see it the first time and we try to avoid it. The more we see it the less it becomes a warning sign. Eventually the sin that we were accustom to avoiding now has become the norm. We just drive right through it.
James 4:17
So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
What is our spiritual car wash? I think it is repentance and asking for forgiveness. It really is two-fold. First we are taught in the word of God to ask for forgiveness and turn from those ways. So yes the first part is to just do what God has commanded us. The second part of it really drives home to me. It is to remind us of those sins and our constant desire to drive around them.
Just like a car wash we can come through the prayer line with God multiple times a day if needed. Why wouldn’t we. If we feel so good about keeping our ride clean shouldn’t we feel the same about keeping our soul clean?
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
I read a story the other day and it went like this. Unfortunately, I did not get the author’s name.
Several years ago our family visited Niagara Falls. It was spring, and ice was rushing down the river. As I viewed the large blocks of ice flowing toward the falls, I could see that there were carcasses of dead fish embedded in the ice. Gulls by the score were riding down the river feeding on the fish. As they came to the brink of the falls, their wings would go out, and they would escape from the falls.
I watched one gull which seemed to delay and wondered when it would leave. It was engrossed in the carcass of a fish, and when it finally came to the brink of the falls, out went its powerful wings. The bird flapped and flapped and even lifted the ice out of the water, and I thought it would escape. But it had delayed too long so that its claws had frozen into the ice. The weight of the ice was too great, and the gull plunged into the abyss.
The material possessions of this world can entrap us if we become too attached to them. They will take us to our destruction if we cannot give them up. And as the author observed, “Oh, the danger of delay!”
Keep fighting people! Don’t worry about the dirty water. Keep fighting!
torreygarrison 