Lenten Reflection #4
How long does it take you to realize
you are in the wrong place?
This past week, I found out that I can realize this pretty quickly – thankfully! Here is what happened. I walked into the supermarket washroom with urgency and I noticed that one of the stalls didn't have a door. “That's strange,” I thought as the bathroom was clean and had been renovated not that long ago. Then I looked in that stall and saw – yes, you guess it – a urinal. I was in the Men's Washroom! So, I quickly got out of there (thankfully, no one else was in the washroom) and pushed open the next door. You know, the one with the lady in the dress on it!
How did I react to this? I laughed. Then I thought about repentance. (Yes, this is as true as the part about walking into a Men's Washroom last Wednesday morning!) While it wasn't sin for me to walk into that Men's Room, I was pretty motivated to leave it and this gave me a picture of repentance. What is repentance? It's realizing you are in the wrong place and getting out of there as quick as you can.
Spiritually, sin is “the wrong place” that we want to get out of. Sin can be an attitude or an action, it can be subtle or grandiose. Whatever the case, the Holy Spirit wants to get you out of that place and the way to do it is repentance - turning away from that sin and turn back to God. Repentance is getting back to the place of humble trust and obedience. It is living a life of faith and walking in the light as John says (1 John1:7).
As I think about this more, I marvel that God give us not only the power to repent from our sin but that He also promises in His Word that He will give us a way out when we are tested or tempted. We can be confident that there will always be a door to get away from sin and into walking in God's ways.
1 Corinthians 10:13
“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful, he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
This past week, I found out that I can realize this pretty quickly – thankfully! Here is what happened. I walked into the supermarket washroom with urgency and I noticed that one of the stalls didn't have a door. “That's strange,” I thought as the bathroom was clean and had been renovated not that long ago. Then I looked in that stall and saw – yes, you guess it – a urinal. I was in the Men's Washroom! So, I quickly got out of there (thankfully, no one else was in the washroom) and pushed open the next door. You know, the one with the lady in the dress on it!
How did I react to this? I laughed. Then I thought about repentance. (Yes, this is as true as the part about walking into a Men's Washroom last Wednesday morning!) While it wasn't sin for me to walk into that Men's Room, I was pretty motivated to leave it and this gave me a picture of repentance. What is repentance? It's realizing you are in the wrong place and getting out of there as quick as you can.
Spiritually, sin is “the wrong place” that we want to get out of. Sin can be an attitude or an action, it can be subtle or grandiose. Whatever the case, the Holy Spirit wants to get you out of that place and the way to do it is repentance - turning away from that sin and turn back to God. Repentance is getting back to the place of humble trust and obedience. It is living a life of faith and walking in the light as John says (1 John1:7).
As I think about this more, I marvel that God give us not only the power to repent from our sin but that He also promises in His Word that He will give us a way out when we are tested or tempted. We can be confident that there will always be a door to get away from sin and into walking in God's ways.
1 Corinthians 10:13
“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful, he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
Could you imagine the possible
embarrassment I might have gone through had I decided to stay in the
Men's Washroom? Why do we put ourselves through more pain by staying
in our sin? God has given you a door to get out of sin and it is the
cross that Jesus died on. Don't despair if you become aware of sin
in your life, be thankful for God's forgiveness through Christ and
that a new way is available to you! And if you are again tempted
with your old ways, be confident that you don't have to go through
with the sin. Look for the way out. As we continue on this Lenten
journey, may you know the effect of Christ's sacrifice for you and
the power of His resurrection.
Grace and Peace,
Tracy
I've also been in this place (men's room), experienced the mortification of recognizing my mistake and made a bee-line for the exit. Applying this real-life situation to the strategy for dealing with sin - quickly and decisively - is perfect! This is definitely one to keep handy for all those times - both in the physical world and in my interior world - when I find myself in the "wrong place".
ReplyDeleteSo funny! I don't know if you planted the idea in our heads, Tracy, but I did this just yesterday! Couldn't believe how fast I got out of there! And reminded me of your blog and the great image it provides of repentance
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