AH, AH, CHOO!

Me: Ah-Chooooo! Sniff. Sniff. Cough. Cough. (Blows nose)

Them: Oh, it sounds like you have a cold.

Me: No, I am dealing with allergies.

Them: Wow! That must be a problem.

Me: Every spring and every fall!

Them: Are you taking anything for it?

Me: Ah, ............

The other day I walked past our pop-up camper and saw this.

The yellow dust is pollen from the oak trees behind our house. Overnight the light rain had washed it toward the edge of the camper. I was startled to see this much pollen but then recalled the enduring dull headache I have been dealing with the last couple weeks. From this picture, one would not presume anything so innocuous could be so powerful. Closer scrutiny reveals the fly in the ointment and here it is.

This is a representative stock photo of oak pollen not necessarily the pollen from our trees. It's easy to see how pollen can wreck one's sinuses and respiratory system. If just one of these pollen spores looks like this then imagine thousands of them being inhaled. These little barbed spores start scraping and releasing histamines on every surface inside our nasal passages then settle into our lungs (Ah-choo).

Sin is like pollen, from a distance it looks harmless. We live with it and around it with little thought to how it might be affecting our life. It's only through the magnifying glass of God's word that we begin to see the details of our choice to live with it or near it. Chronic system overload from pollen produces coughing, sneezing, headaches, etc. Chronic system overload from sin produces general spiritual weakness, flimsy witness, and feelings of unworthiness (cough, cough, Ah-choo, blows nose).

What is the Rx for pollen? Well, we could go live in an enclosed bubble and never contact

the outside world. Filtering the air in our bubble would keep irritants from entering. Getting a doctor to diagnose and narrow the allergy then getting a prescription for the specific irritant would help. Maybe we could wear white dust masks to lower inhalation of the pollens. There are options available.

What is the Rx for sin? There is only one option and he is Jesus. No enclosed bubbles are needed, no masks, and no filters. A diagnosis is still necessary and one will need to follow the medication instructions and here they are.

"That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from

the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your

mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put

to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly

blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

(Romans 10:9-13, NIV)

Assess our spiritual health. Ask those around us whom we trust to tell us what they see in our faithwalk. Use a daily time of prayer to be that onestop moment to seek God's grace and forgiveness for yesterday's shortcomings and then live today in this new place of spiritual health. Breathe easy.