This day, my daughter and I planned to run a few errands and visit the Grands. After installing the car seat, clearing out the empty coffee cups and resetting the mirrors and seat adjustments we loaded up and headed out of the drive. Right away I heard Lily say in a nasally voice,
“Something stinks in here!”
I took a whiff and couldn't smell anything offensive, so I asked, “What does it smell like?” Without pause she responded, “Like a fox's tail.” This struck me as funny and I looked around to see her holding her nose with a disgusted look on her face. My eyes followed hers to the floor board behind my seat. To my surprise, indeed, on the floor behind me was a bushy, red fox tail!
Turns out several days before she and my husband found the poor, departed animal on the side of the road with a beautiful tail still intact. My husband, the country boy he is, couldn’t resist this prize. However, Lily was in no mood to ride along side this “thing” yet again.
This got me to thinking...
How often are there things in our lives that stink, and we don’t even recognize they are there?
Not the dirty socks of preteen boys, but the stinkin’ thinkin’ that creeps its way into our day to day. This kind of thinking erodes away our relationships and values. It divides our marriages, families and friendships. These internal piles of garbage can send our moral compass into a frenzy and cloud the judgement of our Holy Spirit connected heart and head. Our joy is depleted, our compassion wavers, and a flood of pessimism depresses our spirit and paralyzes us from living the life God has planned for us.
Where does this come from?
How does it get there?
And, what is the solution to this stinkin’ mess?
I think God gives a pretty clear answer in Romans.
Early in the book Paul the Apostle reminds us that there is not one perfect human in all creation-NOT ONE (Romans 3:23) (I guess we are born with stinkin’ thinkin’.) Next, he tells us that the price for sin is death (eternal separation from God) (Romans 6:23). In Chapter 10 he goes on to tell us the good news, that ALL who call on the name of the LORD will be saved from this price! (This is getting exciting!) But, my favorite part comes later, after the understanding of our circumstances really hits home...
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)
God tells us to offer our bodies as a gift to HIM... in other words watch what we put in our heads, our hearts, and our minds because at this point, as children of God, we are before HIM all the time-Then offer your life, as it is, to HIM! As a result, your life will be a picture, a testimony, LIVING PROOF of God's perfect will.
