The Stench of Death

Have you ever smelled a rotten egg?  I have. 

As a kid, every Easter - yes, I'm talking about Easter while Thanksgiving is fast approaching - we dyed eggs.  They were gorgeous...sometimes...but more often than not, they usually ended up some form of brown, because we tried to blend too many colors! 

We always had to hide them outside, too.  That was the result of hiding them inside one year and finding one a few weeks later.  You can imagine the aroma.  

One day, as I was hiding in a bush while playing an intense game of hide-n-seek, I found another egg.  It wasn't anywhere close to Easter.  Evidently, it had been in that tree for a VERY long time, because when I touched it to remove it from the branches, the egg dissolved into a mush of yuk.  That's about the only way I can describe it.  Oh, and the smell...I won't forget that smell.  It's been at least 30 years, and my nose still scrunches automatically when I think about it.  

The weird thing was - the egg still looked pretty on the outside.  The colors were a little faded, but all in all, it looked like an Easter egg.  But the smell sent me reeling.  I no longer wanted to show my family.  I wanted to TELL them, but had no desire to show them!  The stench was just too great.  The beautiful Easter egg was rotting from the inside out. 

Spiritually speaking, I think the same thing happens with us on occasion...at least it does with me.  I'll be trucking right along in my walk with the Lord, and all of the sudden, someone or something "touches" me, and some harsh, bitter, stinky words come out of my mouth.  It usually catches me totally by surprise and sends me reeling with the stench. 

Now, I'm not talking about those semi-automatic responses to a threat of some kind.  I'm talking about a deep, thought-out harshness of words that reeks of a rotting place in my heart. 

When I hear myself and FEEL myself say something that exemplifies death, I know something is wrong with me spiritually.  Somewhere, I have buried some resentment...some bitterness...and it has festered, attempting to rot the life within.  

When that happens, I immediately ask God to show me what it is that I have harbored - what it is that I have allowed to grow in me that is not characteristic of Him.  And He gently does so.  I confess my anger and my bitterness to Him, and He in turn, washes and cleanses the rotting places from my heart.

How about you?  Have you "smelled" something rotten coming out of your mouth lately?  Has it taken you by surprise, showing you that there is something growing deep within you spiritually and it's NOT good?  My advice?  Put down the mouthwash and allow God to cleanse you.  Ask Him what the evil is that you have been harboring inside.  Ask Him to show you the depth of your bitterness and the reasons behind it.  Confess it and then allow Him to cleanse you from it! 

Have a beautiful, stench-free day!!!

I praise You, God, that You don't just leave me in my rottenness.  You don't just allow things to fester in my life unchecked.  Instead, you gently allow them to surface, so that I can confess them.  Cleanse me, Lord.  Change my heart to be more and more like Yours every minute of every day.  Thank You for Your forgiveness and grace.