The Foul Little Lunch Box!

As I walked into the chapel building yesterday morning, I was confronted with the foulest of odors. I searched every nook and cranny, checked every trash can, and made sure that everyone had remembered the "flush" rule the day before. I wasn't able to find the source of the smell, so I went on about my morning responsibilities.

After a few minutes passed, I decided to take another stroll through the building to see if I could at least narrow down the possibilities. It was strange, but I couldn't really smell the odor as strong as I did when I first came in. I began to think that maybe it wasn't that bad and that I was just overreacting.

After another few minutes passed, Shondi walked in the door just outside my office and immediately starting making false accusations against me (I think you know what I mean here!). I explained to her that I was most certainly not the source of the odor and in fact had spent part of my morning trying to locate the source.

Since guys can't find anything (at least that what Shondi says.....OK, she's right), Shondi make a quick trip through the building doing her own search for the "obvious" source of the odor. As kids started coming in, they had plenty of ideas about the possible cause (some of which involved pointing at each other!), but no one could find anything.

Eventually, everyone moved on to their duties for the day, and we fumigated the building with air freshener and lit a bunch of candles with all different fragrances. They actually did a decent job hiding the smell for a time, although I felt like I was at one of those candle and incense stores at the mall because of all the weird aromas in the building.

As the afternoon came to end, the fragrances had pretty much worn off, and the source of the odor had kicked into high gear. The odor was absolutely overwhelming. With the help of Glenn, Randy and Mrs. Carolyn, we narrowed it down to something in the corner room of the lobby. Randy and I searched the attic while Glenn went to get a ladder to check in the soffit and ceilings. We still didn't find anything.

It was almost time for us to leave for church and we were about to call of the search when Glenn picked up a little zippered lunch box from the floor of the little room off of the foyer. I saw the pain in his eyes as he lifted the lunch box towards his nose. There was no doubt that the source had been discovered. Being the curious guy that I am, I had to know how such a tiny little lunch box could produce an odor so foul that it took over a 5000 square foot building for the day.

I slowly tried to open the zipper to see what was inside, but I was on the verge of gagging (and possibly creating another "situation" in the lobby), so I ran out the front door to get some air. I did finally get the lunch box open enough to see that it was a small container of rice and some kind of extremely decomposed "something".

If you know me at all, you know that I love illustrations. I think that's why I enjoy writing this blog every day.... I'm usually just journaling what God has been teaching me in my everyday walk. So what can I learn from the little foul lunch box?

We all recognize that we are sinners. Even as believers, we are still just sinners saved by grace. In fact, the Bible says that "while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" - Romans 5:8. Our sin is what separates us from God. If there is unconfessed sin in our lives, we cannot have fellowship with God.

It's important for us to deal with our sin daily, but for some reason, we try to hide it instead. We compare our sins to the sins of others, so they don't seem so bad. We call it something other than what it is... a bad temper, a habit, a struggle, or a "tough time". Sin is sin and sin keeps us from a closer walk with Jesus. Calling it anything else is just lighting a few candles and using up a can of Oust to try to hide what's really going on in our hearts. We want to deal with the surface stuff, but God wants us to deal with the source. Sometimes we don't even "smell" the odor of our sins any more because we have gotten so used to the smell!

Listen for the "whisper"....
1 John 1:8 "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives."

Forgiveness is a beautiful thing. To know that God loves me in spite of me completely changes everything for me. When I desire to have "clean hands and a pure heart"(Psalm 24:4) before Him, He can use my life in ways that I never imagined.

So does it matter what we smell like as believers? I think so... "For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing" 2 Corinthians 2:15

Clean out the foul little lunch box today...you'll be glad that you did!

Whatever It Takes,
Chip