Open Up & Let Him In

Morning came early for us. The scent of sewage clothed in death wafted in our room this morning. I can think of no better description. It smells like your worst nightmare. I rolled over and started fumbling through my things to find my face mask. I tell you, it was that bad. The staff here at the guest house tell us it’s the water in the room next to ours, but there’s no way! It smelled like someone died and is now rotting away beneath the floorboards. Face mask in place, I get up, get ready, and head out into the hallway. The hallway smells fresh and clean compared to our room. The room beside ours is opened up wide. It’s funny because the name above the door is “Arsenal,” a little ironic, don’t ya think? Turns out our vent is also wide open, which means all the smell came from that room to our room! God help us!

Okay, so I don’t know if it’s the fumes or what, but all this stench reminds me of sin. Stay with me for minute, I’ll get there. Let’s say you commit some kind of sin…whatever it may be. One minute, you feel a little guilty, but also just fine, like it was nothing. Then you start sinning more and more and you feel trapped by the weight of your guilt and sin. It’s almost as if you can’t breathe. One minute or day, you are fine, the next, well you wake up surrounded by a foreign stench that feels like it wants to suck your life away. Your heart starts pumping fast, and you might think, what do I do? There’s only one thing to do! Repent. Open that door to your heart and let the spirit cleanse you. That’s what I did. I ran around trying to find other ways to make that smell leave. I tried masking it, I tried leaving, and I even tried holding my breath (thinking it’ll go away, and if it doesn’t it’s not that bad). I unplugged my nose. It was that bad. There was one option left. Open that door. Let the pleasant scent of the spirit in. After a short while, the smell started to weaken. It had to leave. Not long after that, a refreshing newness cloaked our room. The Holy Spirit is like that too. Repentance is the key to starting new, starting fresh. He cleanses you and cloaks you in white. Now then, don’t make that same mistake again. Close those vents. Don’t let that horrid scent come in. However, if you slip up once again, do something about it right away. Don’t wait until the smell intoxicates you.

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.” Acts 3:19-20

“…and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” Ephesians 5:2