You've probably heard the expression, "I've got a little junk in the trunk." Well, I'm starting a new one: "I've got vomit in the backseat." The problem with this expression though is that it is true.
A couple of weeks ago while I was driving Gracelyn home from school, she wasn't feeling well, and she said, "Daddy, I think I need to frowup (throw up...sometimes she has trouble with "th")." So, I with all of the fatherly wisdom I have learned over the years, said, "You'll be ok. Just take a drink of water." Since I am her father and she trusts me, she did just that. Then the frow was up. I heard it and smelled it simutaneously. Gracelyn had vomited all over the back floorboard, herself, and her car seat. Because we were in the middle of the road, there was no where to stop, so by the time we got home it had soaked into the carpet, her car seat, and her clothes. So, I gingerly lifted her up without touching her to my body, as I usually carry her because I didn't want vomit on me. (I know you're thinking, "what a horribly vain man." well...yes I am). So, I carried her in the house to give her a bath and clean her up, all the while vomit was drying in my back seat. Finally when my wife got home, I went out to my truck and began to clean the vomit up...man, was the odor stout! It almost burned my nose to inhale it (but I didn't inhale...I promise). Now, let me make something clear: cleaning it up just meant wiping up the vomit with a towel and spraying some Febreeze in my back seat area to attempt to cover up the odor. It didn't work. So, for the past few days, up until today, I had been driving in a truck surrounded by the odor of old vomit...you know the odor never really changes.
However, things changed today. I put an air freshener on my rear view mirror, and the odor was covered. So, on my way home today, I was reminded that just because the odor was gone, the vomit really was still there because it hadn't properly been cleaned. Then, it hit me. I often to the same thing with sin!!!
I do the best I can to cover it up with sweet smelling Christian jargon, while not really dealing with the sin...allowing God to clean it completely. As I thought about this it reminded me of David and how he did the same thing. He had committed adultery with Bathsheba and attempted to cover it up. However, he came to the point where he had to allow himself to be confronted with the presence of his vomit; thus, he wrote Ps. 51.
PS 51:1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
PS 51:2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
PS 51:3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
You see, our sin is always before us, as long as we cover it up with sweet smelling words. At some point we all must go before God and ask Him to clean us. He is the only one who can clean up the vomit that we cover up.
May you all experience the cleansing of God today!
Wednesday, February 18, 2004