Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Phew! (02/11/10)
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TITLE: The Odoriferous Life of Sin | Previous Challenge Entry
By Mildred Sheldon
02/18/10 -
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The Israelites were slaves in Egypt and were badly mistreated. They labored long hard hours under the hot sun with very little to eat and there living conditions were deplorable. The Lord saw His children and it saddened Him greatly, so He sent Moses to lead His children out of Egypt to a land flowing with milk and honey.
The Israelites committed many sins while in the desert and they tested God’s patience many times. He sent fire from heaven to destroy them and Moses intervened for this stiff necked race. God sent venomous snakes to kill thousands for disobedience and again they repented. Is God’s patience inexhaustible? When Moses went up the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments he was gone a long time. The Israelites convinced Aaron to build a golden calf. They said it was their gods and they worshipped it. God’s anger was aroused to the point of destroying everybody and starting over with Moses descendents, but Moses interceded and they were spared.
Why do I consider sin a stench in God’s nostrils. If God accepted certain sacrifices from His people and He considered them a sweet fragrance then why wouldn’t sin be an offensive odor to the nose of God? Look at all the punishment the Israelites suffered for willful disobedience to God, and all the blessings they were given when they obeyed.
Before Christ became my Savior my willful disobedience in my mind was a stench to heaven. It polluted the very air I breathed. That is what I call a very large PHEW factor, but contrast that to what Paul said to the Philippians. Philippians 4:14-18 Paul was commending the Philippians for sending aid again and again and telling them that it was a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice pleasing to God.
When I think of the millions that do not know God or choose the world as their God my heart goes out to them. They have chosen a path of destruction and eternal separation from God. The malodorous chicanery of crooks who take advantage of unsuspecting people in my mind have a stench about them that makes me want to puke. The evil people of this world, because of their avaricious attitude at others expense, sends a stench up to heaven that grieves God greatly.
God is extremely patient and affords all people plenty of time to repent and confess their sins, but God’s patience is not inexhaustible. Some people are so deceived by Satan and the power of this world they turn completely away from God and go their own way. God still loves them because they are His children. God is the creator of all the known universe.
I will never understand how people would blatantly turn from a relationship with God. I have tasted God and He is truly good. I pray for all sinners because I once walked in the shoes of those that are lost. Sin truly is a horrific phew factor and it shall remain until Christ returns to take His children home.
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