Foul Smelling

A man came into my office the other day looking for advise. He explained to me how he has seen a change in his son and felt that he was really serious about confronting his problem with alcohol abuse. I’ll be the first one to tell you I’ve been there, done that, and ain’t going back, so whenever someone else has decided to give it up I’m there to help and encourage. The father talked about some of the things that were going on with his son which rattled a lot of old dead bones in my closet. Memories better forgotten, but valuable lessons that can be shared with others looking to change their lifestyle. A lot of people in my life tried to show me the ways of my errors, but nothing changes a person until that person decides in his own mind that change is needed. Even when my alcohol soaked body and mind started to fail me, family, friends and customers started to shun me, my false sense of being 7 foot tall and bullet-proof kept me traveling on the road to destruction. We always think we have things under control even when we know very well we are out of control. One day I finally came to my senses as I had been observing others around me, living the same lifestyle, throwing away their life for one more drink. I discovered I had too much to lose and a lot more life to experience in sober love.
Charlie was 15 and was sure he knew everything there was to know about life in the country. He had a way with creatures of the wild and thought he had a gift for taming them. His old father on several occasions warned Charlie not to fool with skunks, but the boy just smiled and dismissed the warning as valueless. One day while crossing a field his eye spotted a beautiful skunk. Confident in his ability with wildlife, Charlie carefully approached the striped kitty. The creature was enthralled as the boy advanced toward him on all fours, cooing and speaking softly. This assured Charlie of his gift and inflated his confidence. Finally he was within two feet of the exotic creature. Slowly he reached out to stroke the fur of the lovely animal, but somehow something went terribly wrong. In an instant the little animal wheeled around, raised its tail and plastered Charlie with its horrible, foul smelling spray. In an instant, Charlie not only found out he had overestimated his skill with animals, he was so tainted with the skunk’s sickening aroma, he was suddenly a man without a home or friends. His mother wouldn’t let him in the house, he had to sleep in the barn. He couldn’t go to school nor did his friends want to be around him, even his girlfriend fled when he approached her. Poor Charlie. Too bad he was not smart enough to take his dad’s advise.
[James 4: 1-12] The wisdom of our heavenly Father likewise goes unheeded too often, resulting in the world turning on us and spraying the terrible, foul smelling, odor of sin and shame on us. (v.7) “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (v. 8) Come near to God and he will come near to you.” James says we must change our worldly laughter to mourning and our worldly joy to gloom. We must humble ourselves before the Lord and He, not the world, will lift us up. Yeh, I thought full participation in the world was making me happy, yet at the same time I knew it was deceiving me. The more I take to heart the advise of my heavenly Father, found in His Word, the Bible, the easier life becomes and I have no need to seek any substitute for the comforts I have living the Christian lifestyle. Seek heavenly things first.