What. Is. That. Smell??

Inspired by an excellent sermon offered by Emily Bingham at Impact 2015 at Greene Hills Camp ground, I offer this perspective on sin. Sin separates us from God, spoils our witness, and holds us in a shameful downward deadly spiral. Sin is a stinking bag of dirty, sweaty, damp clothes in need of washing. Case in point.

Upon arriving home from Impact this afternoon, I was tasked with unloading the truck, unhitching the camper and beginning the process of washing clothes. Did I mention these clothes were worn in some of the hottest weather of the year and were tightly closed in a garbage bag? Yeah, well the picture below is not an exaggeration of the smell that slammed me in the face when I opened the bags. Did I mention these bags had been setting in a vehicle in the hot sun for a few days??

When we try to hide our sins or mask the dark things we have been engaged in it is akin to throwing reeking clothes into a garbage bag and expecting them to come out smelling like roses. It is foolhardy at best and just plain dumb at the very least to think this way.

God desires to take our sin away, help us become restored to His side, and make us smell refreshing to all those with whom we come into contact. Nobody wants to hear what we have to say about Jesus when our own stench is overbearing. Let's stop hiding our sin and come clean through the cleansing 'tide' of Jesus' shed blood. It is the only way we can ever have godly influence in our world. Shalom.