years and years ago, growing up in eastern idaho, i was a child with a few strong dislikes in the area of mealtime delicacies. namely, my particular distaste was for vegetables that were cooked and green in nature: broccoli, lentils, lima beans, brussel sprouts, peas... i hated them all!
one day, to my despair, peas were once again on the dinner menu~ and i resolved then and there that i simply would not eat any peas at all (in my vision) from that day forward! declaring such a goal was completely out of the question, so i devised a more devious means.
slowly but surely throughout dinner, while people were talking, i quietly picked up a single pea, glanced around the table, and put it under the rim of my plate. my little process was noticed by no one~ so i grew bolder and put more and more, completely encircling the plate. i smiled with inward glee, the rim of my plate overlapped in just the right manner to completely hide my entire store of nasty peas.
i remember even being congratulated for "doing such a good job eating all my peas" and i remember feeling so incredibly smart for my little "illusion."
"why don't you bring your plates to the sink when you're finished eating."
over the clatter of clanging dishes, as i heard those words, my heart sunk to my knees. with a dull sense of dread, i knew once i lifted my "clean" plate off the table, an entire serving of little green peas would come spilling out.
i hadn't thought of that.
--
all will be revealed. those are some scary words for all of us. it makes me think of how in life its pretty easy to be a "clean plate" to others around you with them never knowing the sin you're hiding underneath it all.
1. admitting you even have a problem is the first step & probably half the battle. Jesus did not take kindly to people that thought their little illusion was good enough:
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean." (Matthew 23:27)
2. being sobered by the vast ugliness of our sin. the reality is that we
can't simply "clean it up". there is no way, it's not possible for us. one sin is enough to eternally separate us from God, how much more
all of our sins!
3. realizing that God doesn't grade on the "curve" of how much it appears you're ok in reference to how dirty others are. He has a perfect standard= perfection or fail.
4.applying God's grace is our only salvation. in Christ, we are freed from the control of sin and we are more than conquerors! God's grace was never meant to be after we get ourselves "cleaned up first"~ how insulting to God's gift: he made a way for us, when He
knew there was none.
5. and last~remembering the forgiveness of Jesus. the woman being stoned for adultery~ how beautifully Jesus forgave her!
let's stop sweeping things under the placemat... take our dirty plate piled high with sins, give it to Jesus, and never look back!
...and don't forget to say "thank you!"
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