A few Saturday's ago we were preparing to go to the boys baseball games. They didn't take a bath the night before and insisted on not taking one that morning since they were about to be outside getting filthy dirty playing ball. I relinquished but demanded they put on clean underwear. One of the boys commented, "Mom, why do we have to put on clean underwear? It's not like they will grow mold in them." As I am desperately trying not to roll out of my seat laughing I still made them put on clean underwear.The Lord is always good about revealing sin in my life; and like it or not it's a lot like dirty underwear. For those of you that are OCD like myself, putting on clean undergarments or clothes each day or a few times a day is just a given. There are no questions about whether we will do it, we just do. So, let's think about this spiritually. Many times we as Christians can go many moons without "fessing up" to our sin. And even if we do seek forgiveness from the Lord, nine times out of ten we are right back in the middle of that sin within weeks, days, or even minutes. It's like taking those filthy clothes out of the dirty clothes and putting them back on again. There is definitely no logic to that but it is evident this is an every day occurrence. And honestly, the mold may not grow on our clothes but it will grow in our hearts.
So, let me give you some more examples to get your mind going on how this works. You have gone to the store knowing you have a budget but that outfit is calling your name, you feed the monster (credit card), and then feed it again, and again, putting that budget out of your mind until that bill is out of control several months later. Let's say your husband isn't meeting your needs, you bash him at home, in front of the kids, and in public in front of friends, and then expect him to "poof" into prince charming. How about this, our job is taking a toll on us so we take it out on all in sight, especially our loved ones and seek vengeance on the ones we work with. Or this is the ultimate, we feel our child has been treated unjustly, so we immediately ridicule the teacher, blame the "so called" friend, and start a war with the parents of that friend. We jump on the train of negativity, gossip, bad attitudes, yelling at out kids, and so on...Are you catching my drift? We know these things are dirty yet we put them on as if to say they smell good!! All I can say is this is....WHACK!! I'm guilty! How and why have we let the world switch the price tags on the value of righteousness, on the value of living a holy and blameless life???
Now, don't misunderstand me because I am not stupid to think that these are just lil' ole struggles and they shouldn't be any problem to fix. Fighting the flesh is never easy! The easy choice for my boys was to leave those "stanky" undies on, the easy choice for us would be to go along with the world and do as they do. We ask forgiveness yet never turn from our sin, then wonder why our lives are in turmoil and nothing seems to work out.
Paul writes, "We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, sin is living inside of me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I do not carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing. Now, if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: when I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 7:14-25
If you got through that and understood it all you are awesome. I sometimes laugh at Paul's grammar...I do what I do, but I don't want to do but I still do. Lol! That's a lot of "do's"!! I'll explain a bit. Our flesh desires sin, we can't help it, it is in our being (just blame it on Eve, she started this mess, Lol). The only way to conquer sin is to have an intimate relationship with Christ, but even then our desires will sometimes outweigh our love for Him. The key is knowing this...
"So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." 1 Cor 10:12
Praise the Lord for His faithfulness to even me. When I am in a right relationship with Him I no longer have to worry if I can reject sin, I know that I can because He has promised to provide a way out. The next time life confronts you with feelings of anger, bitterness, jealousy, greediness, and frustration you have a choice. Listen to the Holy Spirit that is nudging you to put on clean garments. He desires for you to be clean, even your underwear, lest you grow mold!! ;-)
