excretion
 The sixth characteristic of all living things is excretion – we all get rid of waste from the body. In 2 Corinthians Ch 4 v 7 it says … we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. (King James Version). If we leave our bodies unattended for even a short while they do seem to become extremely earthy. Even us church leaders have to go to the loo sometimes!
I am reminded of ‘The Lone Ranger’. As a youngster he was one of my heroes. He saved everyone from the baddies and invariably saved his sidekick Tonto into the bargain as well and yet never even broke sweat. But get this for a wild west, two gun toting, silver bullet firing hero: he wore a white hat, black mask – acceptable up until now – and a skin tight all in one sky blue outfit! It never got dirty, never! I just can’t imagine this character on his white horse, riding into town and not ever being dumped in the mud by every frontier-town cowman that had spent the last month out on the trail.
We all have to wash up, get clean, and scrub the clothes, put out the rubbish, set out the bins for the weekly collection and sling surplus junk on to the city dump. But what happens to the stains from life? What happens to the effects of our lies, selfish choices, the unkind words, the deeds done in secret, away from the prying eyes of others? What can we do with the pains we accumulate from acts done to us either deliberately or unwittingly? Where do I go with the hurt of broken relationships, the abuse of an elder and the taunt of the bully?
There is something that washes whiter than snow and that can separate our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. There is someone who loves us and will embrace us in healing and forgiving love. Jesus has shed His blood for all and He is for us, to bless, comfort and to set free. If we, unlike The Lone Ranger, carry stain and pain in our lives then there is someone to whom we can go.
|
