UGH!!

Last night I got a chocolate craving. I didn't feel like doing a ton of work to feed this craving so I thought I'd bake some No Bake Cookies. Growing up this was often the cure for a chocolate craving with minimal effort. When I opened my cabinet to get out the sugar I noticed a sticky brown residue on the container.

"Uh-oh" I thought.

Upon further investigation I found molasses covering the entire shelf, the box of aluminum foil, the pancake box, the corn muffin box and still no molasses jar. Then I looked on the shelf above. The molasses had tipped over, dripped over that entire shelf, down the back of the shelf and gotten over all the afore mentioned items on the bottom shelf. With each discovery of brown sticky mess, I whined a little more.

Looks like my quick chocolate fix was going to be postponed as I set about cleaning up the molasses. So much for minimal effort. UGH! As I began cleaning up I wondered how long the molasses had been dripping back there waiting for me to notice. How many times had I grabbed something out of the cabinet not realizing that an enormous mess was sneaking up on me?

It kind of reminds me of sin. How often do we shut the door on a sin that is in our life, not realizing how it is growing and festering into a huge mess? When I discovered the molasses mess, part of me was tempted to just grab the needed sugar, shut the door and pretend the mess wasn't there. This would have done no good. The mess would have only gotten worse and eventually I would have had to clean it up anyway. It is far better to clean it up when we discover it then to let it slowly drip into a bigger mess. Sin is the same way. Rather than shutting the door and pretending it isn't in our life, if we confess our sin "God is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Now my shelf is clean, all the boxes were wiped clean and the sticky residue is even gone. Is the same true of your heart? Is there a sin you need to take before our Lord? He is ready to clean up your mess, all you have to do is ask.