a strong stench arose

Well, it's not everyday you get dragged on your belly through dog poop so I thought I'd write about the occasion. I was letting the dog out after church and she had been in her crate for a couple of hours so she was quite excited to be free, and plus there was a half-duck, half-swan right along the lakefront (yeah, we're not really sure either...) so obviously she was excited about that, and couldn't wait to get out side. I had her sit, wait and and then I opened the door and innocently enough gave her the OK and she took off, I just happened to be on the other end of the leash and, well the dog is a lot faster then me, and before I knew it was running out the back door with her and down the back steps right toward the lake, but I couldn't keep up and too stubborn to let go of the leash was dragged down face first into the ground. I cut myself slack cuz I'm recovering from being sick and not at my full strength, and I give myself credit for managing to dive to the side and hit grass rather than cement. But I did end up letting go of the leash eventually, just a little too late and the damage had been done. As I stood up and assessed the damages and re-gathered the now wet dog, I noticed a somewhat strong smell raising up from very near me. Only to look down and realize it had not been just grass i slid through, but there was a little extra present from the dog that I managed to collect on myself. First it was just my sleeve and then a little on the right hand, oh and somehow on the left hand too, and oh wait on the sweatshirt too. well at least the jeans are still in good shape minus the grass stain. i go inside and start shedding layers only to find that the "present" had also ended up on my jeans and somehow under my shirt...so i decided there was no mistaking it, all clothes including jacket would go in the wash and i would go in the shower. and finally the ordeal was over...thanks Murf for helping wash my clothes. So then I ponder, what could i possibly learn from this, how is life compared to this? Here's what I came up with. Sin smells like poop to God, the smell of it is offensive to him, and it needs to be to us too. Because I didn't smell too bad to begin with, though it was almost time for a shower, I noticed the smell of poop right away and was disgusted by it. But had i just rolled in a little over time and let it sit, and kinda forget about it, I'd get used to it and so if i rolled in more poop somehow, I probably wouldn't notice as much, or wouldn't be so bothered because that's what I've been used to smelling. Same with sin. If we sin and don't immediately ask Christ to forgive and cleanse us, we start getting used to it, we convince ourselves, well that's not so bad. We don't notice how offensive it is to God and to those around us and to ourselves. We become so used to it and it becomes so much a part of us, that we go around all stinky and think things are just fine. (kinda like when I don't shower for a few days and my family notices my smell before I do...) We sin more and more and get deeper and deeper into sin and don't realize the stench that we are putting off. My prayer is that I would be so close to the heart of Christ that any even hint of sin in my life would be so offensive to me that I would run to Christ and ask him to forgive and cleanse. I do not want to be running around smelling like poop and not even know it, that would be terrible. And thank God that every time I roll around in smelly stuff and then come to realize I've messed up again, He is able to wash me clean by the blood of Jesus. My stench is never too great for Him to overcome with the precious bloood of Jesus. And that's something I do not want to abuse.

"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. Isaiah 1:18