I went to the dentist yesterday. I suspected that I had ingested a portion of molar during my lunch the previous day (ugh!). My suspicions were confirmed when the dentist noted that a fair chunk of tooth was missing. As he prodded and poked, he commented that the tooth might have had a crack developing in it for twenty years, gradually weakening enough to start crumbling in my mouth! Twenty minutes later, and nearly $200 poorer, I emerged from the surgery with a very numb face and a freshly filled tooth – any faults covered up by a concretey concoction that hopefully will stay put for a very long time!
Life, particularly our spiritual life, can be a bit like that tooth. Things seem to be going ok, but somewhere along the way a little bit of sin has crept in, causing a fault line, or a crack that deepens and eventually causes things to come apart. We might not notice the little things that have changed along the way – perhaps we are not praying as much as we used to, or maybe we don’t open God’s Word as often as we ought – then other things happen, bigger things, that shock us out of our complacency. Maybe relationships break down or we give way under life’s pressures. Just as I had to get my tooth fixed straight away to prevent any further damage, so it is imperative that we take urgent action on those issues that are impacting on our relationship with God and with others. Unlike my tooth, we cannot simply take something to numb the pain or cover up the sin to make our lives more comfortable. Nor can we buy our way out of trouble. It just doesn’t work that way. The Word of God tells us that we are to acknowledge our sin, ask God’s forgiveness, and allow Him to remove the sin from our lives. God’s Word assures us that He can, and will, do it!
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.(1 John 1:9 - KJV)
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