Don’t you want to get better?

Have your kids ever lied to you about brushing their teeth?

No?!  Just me?!

Ok then.

Well, just imagine that you are like me and your kids dread being pulled away from whatever they are doing (probably playing video games) to do things like shower, or brush their teeth.

Maybe you remember being “that kid”.  You may even remember times that your parents told you to go brush your teeth… You went away for a minute, and then came back, claiming that you had done what was asked of you.  But, you knew you didn’t… and your mom knew it too!

How do they always know?! 

I suppose they can just smell it on us.

Anyway.  Why do we do that?  Why is it that we often struggle to take the steps to do what we need to do?

We can joke about our kids doing gross stuff like skipping showers, or not brushing their teeth.  But, the reality is, we are guilty of the same things.

The setting might be different, but the root issue is the same…

We don’t want to stop whatever we’re doing to do something that, albeit necessary, is less fun.

In fact, as we age, it might even be that we don’t want to take the steps to stop our destructive, sinful behavior because deep down we like it.  Sin is fun, there’s no way around it.  But, the consequences and the dishonor to God… that’s not so fun.

Maybe we are afraid that “cleaning” ourselves up might even be uncomfortable or painful. 

The fact is… it might be.  Change is hard.  Quitting things takes work.  Cleaning the sinful and dark parts of our lives might hurt.  It might be embarrassing.  It requires surrender.

But, it is also what God has called us to.  For us to be in relationship with Him, to honor Him, to grow more like Him, we have to follow His instruction. 

In 2 Kings 5, Naaman was a man that had a lot of authority and was well known and respected among all the people.  He also had leprosy.

When the prophet, Elisha, told him what to do in order to be healed, Naaman scoffed.  Elisha told Naaman to go wash himself in the river seven times and his leprosy would be healed.

Naaman didn’t immediately believe him.  He thought it was silly because you can’t just wash leprosy off in river water.

But, eventually, Naaman was convinced that Elisha’s instructions were from God and he should try them.

When he went and washed in the river according the God’s direction, his leprosy was healed.

We often scoff at, or fear, or don’t trust God’s instruction for us to clean up our lives.  We think, “there’s no way, that can’t possibly be the answer!”  But, if we want to be clean, we have to follow His command.

Because when we come to Him and tell Him we’ve dealt with an issue… He always knows if we’re telling the truth.

I guess He can just smell it on us!

You can take steps today to clean up your life and be healed from your sins.  Click on any of the links below!