Dead Things Really Do Stink!

This is a late Sunday evening p.m. post...actually I think it's now Monday a.m.

After today’s message at church "Dead Things Stink!"(please read my previous post), I came home to a nasty stink going on inside my house, and started to wonder...what is it with this recurring "stink" theme of the day! As I started to investigate the source of the smell, and after I had already blamed my dog, I noticed that the smell was coming from my laundry room. As I got closer to my washing machine, it was evident that the smell was coming from here and it was like the green "Scooby-Doo fog" that was creeping through the whole house and permeating the air in every nook and cranny! [side note: not many nooks & crannies in my house, it's too small...which makes the smell even more potent!]

You see, last night when I was doing laundry – my washer decided to quit! I thought it was a sign from God that I didn’t need to be doing laundry (ha, ha) but then realized that doing laundry was a necessity [if I wanted to wear clean clothes, that is!].

When the washing machine stopped last night, it didn’t drain the water from the final rinse & spin cycle, leaving a load of sopping wet towels and a tub full of water. I knew there was nothing I could do, so I left it all over night...thinking that after all, it was clean water.

After sitting in the washer for several hours, the water began to become stagnant and took on a “funky” smell of it’s own…a smell so strong that when I entered the house this afternoon it almost knocked me back out the door. [ok, so a small exaggeration…but it was bad!]

I became desperate to get that smell out of my house, so when I began to furiously bail the water out of the washing machine – God spoke to me about today’s message from Pastor Jason.[not that Pastor J's message stank, but the fact that his lesson was on things that stink!I guess God was really trying to bring this whole stink thing to my attention...and he was very creative about how He revealed it to me.]

You see, as I started to bail the water out of my washing machine it became very clear to me that a small amount of stinky water, hidden in my laundry room inside of my washing machine where nobody could see it, was effecting my whole household. To guests who came through the door, they didn’t know about the water in the washing machine…but they sure could smell it!

I think this was just what God was trying to tell me through Pastor J's message (and through my washer troubles)...that things that don't move(or live),can become stale and stinky(or die). Yesterday, the water that was trapped in my washer was fresh & clean – but because of the stagnation over night (and all day today) it had become dirty & stinky. It’s amazing what just a little bit of water trapped inside a washer will do to the whole household. And it’s even more amazing at how quickly fresh water can become stale and stinky! Just a little bit of stink can fester [like the water in my washer, uggghhh!] and can become a real problem in just a short amount of time.

You see, my washer water is a lot like my relationship with God. If I neglect spending time with God…I get stale, I shrivel up and die inside. If I allow death into my body, soul, spirit, attitude… everything will stink! And it will effect everything else around me!

In a nutshell, if I don’t DAILY spend time with God and grow in Him, I will become stagnant like my washer water and I will die and begin to stink like death!

I don’t ever want to be walking around in stink (death) I want to be alive in Him! I want to be so passionately in love with HIM that my life, my attitude and my “smell” shows it!

My prayer this evening is that God will breathe life into my EVERY situation and that I will answer His call to life. What about you? Does your attitude stink? Are you alive in Jesus or are you just existing? Don’t become stagnant…don’t allow death to creep in. Let Him breathe life back into you, let Him change your life!

Well, that’s all for now, it’s way past my bedtime and I’m praying for the washing machine repairman to come tomorrow…think I’ll head off to bed and spend some time telling God just how in love with Him I really am!!!

P.S. Guess I don’t have to fret over what I’m going to wear to work tomorrow…that’ll be whatever is clean!

Be blessed :)