A few years ago, a rat died in the wall of one of our offices and the stinky smell spread throughout the entire building. We couldn’t find the source right away, so for days, the noxious odor penetrated the air. Even constantly diffusing essential oils didn’t cover up the stink. However, if we were in the office long enough, we would start getting used to the smell and it didn’t seem so horrible. But if you left to get fresh air and then returned to the building—the smell was like being hit in the nose with a hammer.
When we’ve been born again and have experienced the sweet, refreshing presence of God—sin has much the same effect on us as that stinky dead rat.
When our soul and spirit is made righteous through the gift of salvation, the Holy Spirit within us gives us the ability to see sin the way He does. His presence illuminates the contrast between light and darkness. While those habits we learned as children of darkness don’t go away overnight, when God sets us free—we now have a strong desire to remain FREE from the slavery of our destructive habits. Whether we struggle with the sins of worry—selfishness, pride, pornography, or failure to discipline ourselves to study or pray—any deviation from loving God and loving others stinks like a dead rat!
Sin is offensive to God and—it destroys us, other people, and everything good in our life.
It separates us from the wholesome, delightful presence of God. The Psalmist provided us with a vivid description of the effect of sin:
“There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no 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 stink and fester because of my foolishness, I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all the day I go about mourning. For my sides are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh.”
Psalms 38:3-7
If we live in the stink of sin long enough, we get used to the smell and forget what it’s like to experience the refreshing fragrance of God’s presence. But when we establish a pattern of life in God’s presence, then the contrast of sin is like being hit in the nose with a hammer. Make no mistake, our enemies are sneaky, and they dress that dead rat to appear and smell appealing! But a person who has developed a strong sense of God’s presence—and knows the blessings of His righteousness—has the wisdom to recognize the danger. When we’ve experienced the freshness of God’s presence, then ALL of our sin stinks compared to Him!
Ah, the refreshing experience of communing with our Holy God!
My friend, a life lived in Jesus Christ offers us so much more than the pleasures of sin which only last for a short season!!! He said:
“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
John 10:9-10
God’s presence is the most refreshing and lovely part of our life. When we make God the Lord of our life, He delights us and we NEVER want to be without Him!
“The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength”
Isaiah 40:28-29
