Week 6 Day 5 Devotions
Today's Dirty Word
“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”
Isaiah 64:6
C. S. Johnson shares this family lesson:
"My son, Michael, was four years old the night I found him sobbing uncontrollably in the hallway. Concerned, I knelt next to him and drew him close. "'What's the matter, sweetheart? Are you hurt? 'He shook his head and turned to me, but I was unprepared for his response. "'Daddy said a bad word to me!' he sobbed. I almost laughed out loud. I had known my husband 12 years and had rarely heard him raise his voice. But Michael had heard him say something, and I was curious enough to want to know what it was. "'Honey, what bad word did Daddy say?' And seeing a chance for sympathy, my sensitive four-year-old stopped crying and blurted out - 'Obey!'
"I never think of that incident now without asking my Heavenly Father to keep me from believing, as my son did, that 'obey' is a bad word."
Today's text graphically highlights the effects of disobedience. Sin makes us unclean. Think about that. Many of us pride ourselves on our cleanliness, making sure our homes are spotless, our clothes neatly pressed, if we have cars they must be shiny and who would think of going into a shop, a restaurant, or even a church which looks filthy?
But our sin makes us unclean and even though we might look clean on the outside we are filthy on the inside. Jesus once spoke to the Pharisees (whose righteousness we must exceed) about this very thing, being clean on the outside but filthy on the inside. The text goes on and points out that sin pollutes even our righteous acts turning them into nothing more than filthy rags! Sin shrivels us, drains us and dries us up like a leaf and then like a wind it carries us away, who knows where? And all of this because of the four letter word that it is so unpopular today: “Obey.”
It can all seem quite hopeless and we can be tempted to say: “What's the use even trying?” But remember, there is a secret ingredient which when added to our obedience changes everything. It was missing in the obedience of the Pharisees (whose righteousness we are called to exceed) but it needn't be missing in your obedience today. The secret ingredient is of course……. Desire. Add the desire to be obedient to your obedience today. Obey because you want to and not because you have to and then ask God for the power that only His Spirit can give, the power to show your love for Him by your obedience to Him.
