This past week was
absolutely nuts! Tax Day; Doctor’s Appointments; Finish preparing for a
memorial service; Plus, my regular obligations of leading Bible study on Sunday
morning and preaching two lessons on Sunday, not to mention my office duties to
tend to. What made the week more interesting is when a construction crew one
block over cut through the internet cable reminding me how much I rely on that
service (yes, the telephone was dead too). That afternoon and the next morning,
my cellphone racked up some data serving as a hotspot for my office computer (unlimited
data plan finally paid off). By Friday morning it felt like everything was
closing in on me but by noon-thirty the plan was coming together and I could
see the light at the end of the tunnel (oh, I hope it’s not a train!). I kept
circling the wagons to make sure I wasn’t forgetting something – I seem to be
good at that. Well, it’s Friday night and all seems to be under control and
ready for delivery.
We often fail
to consider the gradual, accumulative effect of sin on our life. (Keep reading.)
In St. Louis in 1984, a woman noticed some bees buzzing around the attic vent
of her house. Since she noticed only a few, (so she thought) she made no effort
to deal with them. Over the summer though, the bees continued to fly in and out
the attic vent while the woman remained unconcerned, but unaware of the growing
city of bees moving into her attic. In a relatively short period of time,
nearly the whole attic became a hive. It became so large that her bedroom
ceiling suddenly caved in due to the weight of hundreds of pounds of honey and thousands
of angry bees. While the woman escaped significant injury, she was unable to repair
the damage of her accumulated neglect.
[Psalm 38:1-8]
Consider David’s reflection on the heaviness of sin. “Oh Lord, do not rebuke
me in Your wrath, Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure! For Your arrows pierce
me deeply, And Your hand presses me down. There is no soundness in my flesh because
of Your anger, Nor any health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities
have gone over my head; Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My
wounds are foul and festering because of my foolishness. I am troubled, I am
bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. For my loins are full of inflammation,
And there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and severely broken; I groan
because of the turmoil of my heart.”
Instead of
neglecting the sin in your life that will one day crush down upon you, seek
forgiveness and restoration. For David wrote elsewhere, “I acknowledge my
sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions
to the Lord,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin” (Psalm 32:5).
A Bible school
teacher had her older teen students bring a clear plastic bag and a sack of
potatoes to class. For every person that they refused to forgive in their life experience,
they were to choose a potato, write that person’s name on it, and put it in the
plastic bag. Then they were told to carry the bag with them everywhere for one
week, putting it beside their bed at night, on the car seat when driving, on
their lap when riding with others, and next to their desk at school. Some of
the bags became quite heavy. The hassle of having to lug the bag around made it
clear what weight they were carrying spiritually, and how they had to pay
attention to it all the time to keep from leaving it in embarrassing places.
Naturally, the potatoes became moldy, smelly, and began to sprout in the eyes.
Too often we
think of forgiveness as a gift to the other person, and it clearly is for
ourselves! To forgive unloads what would otherwise become a heavy, rotten
burden. Can you hear a buzzing above your head? Is it time to address it before
it becomes too heavy?
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