There is something disgusting in my refrigerator. From the outside, it looks so pleasant. There are magnets holding photos of our lovely children, our parents, great friends. The refrigerator is clean and shining. Even the kitchen is uncharacteristically clean today. But I've been out of town all weekend, and I've come home now only to open the door and find that something is rotten in the state of "Kenmore". I haven't found it, yet. I haven't even tried. I just keep opening the very clean refrigerator door this morning and quickly grabbing the thing I need and slamming it shut very fast so that I don't have to deal with whatever it may be. I don't like unpleasantness at all, and I am one who could probably keep living this way for a few days until the stench breaks through the magnetic seal of the doors and invades my very house. Crazy, right?
Why not deal with the problem now? Why let it keep magnifying and taking over everything? Why not get the offending item out of the fridge before it begins to contaminate other items like butter and cottage cheese that are sensitive and receptive to the bad smell of the rotten thing? Therefore, the moment I get up from the computer, I intend to take everything out and go ahead and do the thorough cleaning that this moment warrants.
Jesus Himself preached a very powerful message along this line. He was speaking to the religious hypocrites of the day and said, "You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. ....you are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." (Matthew 23:25-28)
It is all too easy to put up a good front, to appear that all is going well. We've seen it all too often. The people whose lives look so perfect are the ones who shock us with news of corruption in their hearts. We expect the dirtier folks around us to be filled with unrighteousness, but not the shiny, clean ones, right? This is where my challenge of the day lies. Are you hiding something inside your heart that is ugly, a little smelly and quite possibly rotten? Are there things that you can't discuss with people around you for fear that it may make you look bad? It's time to do some housecleaning.
Just like that one thing in my fridge that has gone bad, if there is the slightest stinch of on-going sin in my life, I can't think that it will not contaminate the other areas of my heart. The fragrance of sin has the ability to permeate everything. It can quickly bring ruin to an entire life if left to decay. We may think that we can isolate a sin and keep it separate from everything else, but it just isn't so. I've seen over and over how the cloud of disobedience fogs the entire spirit and causes loss of power, purpose, vision, etc.
Check your "fridge". See if anything is found there that needs to be removed and discarded. Allow the Spirit of God to point out to you any area that is bringing decay to your spirit. Don't let anything go unchecked. This is for the glory of God and for your benefit. Just like my family will thank me once I've cleaned our actual refrigerator, the people around you will notice the sweet fragrance of the Spirit of the Lord that completely removes the stench of a stubborn heart.
Great points!
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