I recently had a crisis on my face; a zit forest sprung up on the bridge of my nose next to my left eyebrow. Why is it that, as we get older, everything youthful (wrinkle-free skin, legs without cellulite, and body parts not affected by gravity) disappears, but we retain the ability to produce zits. Life can certainly be cruel!
When my most recent zit forest burst forth I tried to make it better by "messing" with it, but only made matters worse. Instead of a few small sprouts, I ended up with an extremely irritated area that looked like one big zit. I was quite the vision. The only good thing about my "zit"uation was the fact I wear long bangs and my hope was that they would hide the creepy formation lurking around on my face. Although no one greeted me with screams of "eeeeewwww", one of my co-workers confirmed the noticeable nature of the zit formation. It figures this happened the week I had a message scheduled and a teeth cleaning with my dentist. I'm sure my "lovely" condition didn't go unnoticed by them. Sigh.
Despite my own attempts to fix my zits, it finally began the heal a few days later. The healing process took longer than usual, but thank goodness the human body will usually heal itself despite our lame attempts to offer our assistance.
Did you ever stop to think that zits and sin have a lot in common?
- Zits are ugly and sin is ugly.
- A zit is a blemish on our physical bodies, and sin is a blemish in our spiritual lives.
- We try to hide our zits with long bangs, make-up, and band aids, while we try to hide our sin with denial, blame, and lies.
- Zits can cause infection at the affected area; sin is an infection that affects our hearts, our minds, and our souls.
- The more we try to improperly fix our zits, the worse they get; the more we try to improperly fix our sin, the worse it gets.
- Zits need pimple cream, time, and sometimes a dermatologist to heal properly and sin needs the Living Water (Jesus), the Word (the Bible), time, and the Great Physician (God) for proper healing (or to be avoided altogether.)
Look at the life of King David, the apple of God's eye. David got himself in a terrible "zit"uation. One of the biggest zits that grew in his life was his adultery with Bathsheba. It was an ugly blemish in his physical life and his spiritual life. David thought that because his servants quietly ushered Bathsheba between her home and his, the secret was safe. Just because it was done by clandestine methods didn't mean David would be able to hide his indiscretion forever. Bathsheba ended up pregnant.
The illustrious king then attempted to fix his sin in a very improper way: he orchestrated the death of one of his best military men, Bathsheba's husband, Uriah. David's "zit"uation kept getting worse and worse. Finally, the prophet Nathan faced the mighty king with the truth of his sin and David finally addressed the ugly blemish. He quit hiding it and the resulting infection in his life, and he fixed it the right way...with repentance. However, despite receiving forgiveness, both David and Bathsheba suffered the consequences of their actions. (Their story is told in 2 Samuel 11 and 12.)
Sin is an ugly blemish that loves to infect our lives and the sooner we realize that we cannot fix it ourselves, the better off we will be. The best remedy (and preventative measures) come from the Living Water, the Word, and the Great Physician. As imperfect Christians, we will always have sinful flare ups in our lives, but healing and forgiveness is always available.
In I John 1:9 it says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." Isn't that a wonderful promise from God. I love the feeling of pure clean skin once a zit has been healed and how much better it feels to be pure, clean, and righteous after struggling 
with a sinful blemish in our spiritual lives. God can cleanse us and He wants to cleanse us. God isn't afraid of zits or sins. I know He thinks sin is ugly, but I doubt He rarely gives most facial zits a second thought. I don't want to minimize the struggle that many people have in this area, but when they aren't a major issue in one's life, our vanity is what makes it a big deal...we need to remember that it is our vanity that often allows sin to enter our lives.
Zits and sin are very real parts of all of our lives. We need to recognize both for what they are (ugly) and we need to address them with the proper medication. There is one big difference between zits and sin that I think is noteworthy...zits are very rarely attractive, but sin can be and often is very attractive. Some us may work harder on our physical blemishes than our spiritual ones. Practical Christianity is careful not to fall in that trap, but when you do, don't try to hide it or fix it yourself...go the Living Water, the Word, and the Great Physician.
(c)2009 Shona Neff
I recently had a crisis on my face; a zit forest sprung up on the bridge of my nose next to my left eyebrow. Why is it that, as we get older, everything youthful (wrinkle-free skin, legs without cellulite, and body parts not affected by gravity) disappears, but we retain the ability to produce zits. Life can certainly be cruel!
Despite my own attempts to fix my zits, it finally began the heal a few days later. The healing process took longer than usual, but thank goodness the human body will usually heal itself despite our lame attempts to offer our assistance.
Did you ever stop to think that zits and sin have a lot in common?
Look at the life of King David, the apple of God's eye. David got himself in a terrible "zit"uation. One of the biggest zits that grew in his life was his adultery with Bathsheba. It was an ugly blemish in his physical life and his spiritual life. David thought that because his servants quietly ushered Bathsheba between her home and his, the secret was safe. Just because it was done by clandestine methods didn't mean David would be able to hide his indiscretion forever. Bathsheba ended up pregnant.
The illustrious king then attempted to fix his sin in a very improper way: he orchestrated the death of one of his best military men, Bathsheba's husband, Uriah. David's "zit"uation kept getting worse and worse. Finally, the prophet Nathan faced the mighty king with the truth of his sin and David finally addressed the ugly blemish. He quit hiding it and the resulting infection in his life, and he fixed it the right way...with repentance. However, despite receiving forgiveness, both David and Bathsheba suffered the consequences of their actions. (Their story is told in 2 Samuel 11 and 12.)
Sin is an ugly blemish that loves to infect our lives and the sooner we realize that we cannot fix it ourselves, the better off we will be. The best remedy (and preventative measures) come from the Living Water, the Word, and the Great Physician. As imperfect Christians, we will always have sinful flare ups in our lives, but healing and forgiveness is always available.
In I John 1:9 it says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." Isn't that a wonderful promise from God. I love the feeling of pure clean skin once a zit has been healed and how much better it feels to be pure, clean, and righteous after struggling
with a sinful blemish in our spiritual lives. God can cleanse us and He wants to cleanse us. God isn't afraid of zits or sins. I know He thinks sin is ugly, but I doubt He rarely gives most facial zits a second thought. I don't want to minimize the struggle that many people have in this area, but when they aren't a major issue in one's life, our vanity is what makes it a big deal...we need to remember that it is our vanity that often allows sin to enter our lives.
Zits and sin are very real parts of all of our lives. We need to recognize both for what they are (ugly) and we need to address them with the proper medication. There is one big difference between zits and sin that I think is noteworthy...zits are very rarely attractive, but sin can be and often is very attractive. Some us may work harder on our physical blemishes than our spiritual ones. Practical Christianity is careful not to fall in that trap, but when you do, don't try to hide it or fix it yourself...go the Living Water, the Word, and the Great Physician.
(c)2009 Shona Neff