Back in 1993, when I was appointed
Postmaster of Herington KS, we purchased a house which was built back in the
year of 1917. It had a huge front room flowing into a large dining room.
However, the carpet in the front room was filled with fleas and in bad shape.
So, this was our first project on improving the house, to remove that carpet
and to refinish the oak flooring. Naturally, with this age of a home, we
expected much worse than it really was in. However, there was a few spots where
the previous owners or renters had pets in the house and let us just say, they
were either not house broke or they were left alone way too long. The ammonia
from the pet’s urine had stained circles within the oak floor, turning it very
dark. I thought, OK, I will sand this out, but I soon learned that these stains
penetrated the wood so deep, I had to find another way to get these stains out.
Through lots of reading and visiting with others who have had to go through
these same conditions, the answer would be found with applying bleach to the
floor, let it soak up some and then sand. We applied the Clorox Bleach over and
over and over, but it made no difference. Through all of this, we were soon
coming upon a giving up state of mind, but I guess I was not wanting to give
up. There must be a way of getting these stains out. That is when I noticed,
written on the Clorox Bleach bottle, it said Color Guard on the label. I got to
wondering if that was the problem. Would that make such a difference even with
it smelling like bleach? That is when I purchased good old cheap bleach and the
stains immediately began to lighten.
But this experience with using the
wrong product, even a more expensive product, that is what was holding me back
from taking care of these stains. And in this, it got me to thinking. I started
to watch how many times I tried to take care of my sins, the stains in my own personal
floors, with me even going with a product that costs more but was it doing the
job or was it just leading me down a false hope direction. Was the evil one
just leading me down a dark path, with me believing that I am doing this right
but, in all reality, I was still just full of dark staining sin.
Ask yourself, how do you handle your
sin? Do you take care of it? Do you stand guard yourself, saying that you will
not step into that sin ever again? How many times do you find yourself back
into that same old sin, over and over and over? And by doing this over and
over, are you falling into the trap of what describes insanity? That is, doing
the same thing over and over in hopes to have a different outcome. And does
doing this over and over, does that finally convince you to give up and that you
just must live with those stain spots within your soul? If you are there, don’t
feel alone because this is a common trick, a very convincing misleading trick of
the devil. It is designed to break you down and lead you away from our Jesus, your
Savior.
Now don’t get tripped up and think
that I am calling God’s Bleach cheap because, anyone who looks at the cross
sees that God’s Bleach comes with an extreme price which God has already paid
it for you and for me. That’s the Great Good News! God has already walked the walk for us, all
we need to do is to allow Him to enter our lives and for us to follow Him out
of our sin. His Bleach is 100% Pure Bleach, and it will whiten those spots the
first time applied. So let go and no longer try to remove those spots
ourselves, even if we spend the high dollars for what we think will work. But
the ONLY Way to remove our sins is through Christ. That’s It. There is simply
no other way.
Now so often, we get to wondering
about what we will have to give up, what will we have to do, what will it cost
us to follow Christ Daily. But that is the lies which the devil fills our minds
up with. But the truth of it is, if we are not of God, Free within Him, then
the only other place which we can be and that is in the dungeon cells of the
evil one’s. It is in the dungeon where we are held as slaves to sin, slaves to
death, slaves to hate.
When this is published, it will be
right before Palm Sunday. That is the perfect time to stop and reevaluate our
lives. To check our floors for the stains of our entrapment. To check and see
if we are sealed into sin or if we are free and following our Christ. If you
find yourself trapped, cry out to the Lord for help and if you want help in
doing this, find a person of God, a pastor or a priest and reach for the Lord.
If He isn’t in you, then He is knocking, waiting at your door. Waiting for you
to cry out to Him. And the miracle of it all is, He has the right stuff to
remove the stains from your floors.
As always, I want to leave you with
an open invitation, an invite to come and visit us here at HALL Wesleyan
Church. God is waiting, yes, He is waiting for you to allow Him in. Our Easter
Service begins with having a great Breakfast being served by the men from 8:30
to 9:15 and our Easter Service will begin at 9:30am. God Bless and let’s make
this the best Easter yet.
