Object lessons - 5 minute devotionals to give - Sweaty T shirt and Cologne

  (Come into the room wearing a gray, sweatsoaked T shirt) So, I was just working out and saw the clock and noticed, whoa, I'm late for devotions. Didn't have time to shower (sniff pits and make a face) but that's ok because I had some cologne in my gym bag. (Douse yourself with cologne and go up to the nearest person or a planted person who moves away from you as you draw near) What's a matter? I don't stink anymore do I?

     

 

The fact is, even though I smell better, I still am gross. I am just a guy with cologne covering body odor. What I really need to do before anyone wants to touch me or be near me is take a soapy shower and change clothes.

 

The same is true spiritually. Isaiah says in 1:11-17

¹¹ “The multitude of your sacrifices—
    what are they to me?” says the Lord.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
    of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure
    in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
¹² When you come to appear before me,
    who has asked this of you,
    this trampling of my courts?
¹³ Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
    Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
    I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
¹⁴ Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals
    I hate with all my being.
They have become a burden to me;
    I am weary of bearing them.
¹⁵ When you spread out your hands in prayer,
    I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
    I am not listening.

Your hands are full of blood!

¹⁶ Wash and make yourselves clean.
    Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
    stop doing wrong.
¹⁷ Learn to do right; seek justice.
    Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
    plead the case of the widow.

 

There are multiple other passages you could use but you see the point. We are all sinful and separated from God. The tendency for mankind, and what all religions teach (except Christianity) is just to cover over our filth by doing good deeds. The problem is we are still filthy and unapproachable to a Holy God. What we need is a bath! And "What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus" Have you trusted in the blood of Jesus on the cross to remove your sins or are you trying to just look good on the outside? Here is how you can know the answer to that question - ask yourself, when I stand before God someday and He says "Why should I let you into Heaven?," what is your answer? If it starts with "I've been" or "I haven't" or "I've tried" then you are trusting in your deeds and you are still dirty. Say this prayer right now and receive forgiveness and cleansing; "Dear God, I realize I am a sinner and separated from you. I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins. Please forgive my sins. I receive Jesus into my life right now and will live for Him through His strength inside of me from now on. Thank you for saving me! Amen."

Object lessons - 5 minute devotionals to give - Visine

  I once heard an eye doctor (ophthalmologist) talk about one over the counter product that he hated. That product was Visine.

        

 

So why would an eye doctor not like something so cheap, effective, soothing, and non-toxic? Well, if you are cynical you might say it is because you can cure yourself without paying him(her). No, it is something more serious. He said the problem is that red eyes are an indicator of something going wrong. You could have an infection going on, a foreign body, or even a medical condition that makes your eyes bulge so the lids don't close completely. The redness is a warning sign that something more serious needs attention and you are treating the symptoms not the disease.

 

On a spiritual level, God sends warning signs of a deeper problem in our lives. Moses talks about it in Deuteronomy 28:58,64-67

 If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name—the Lord your God...Then the Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known. ⁶⁵ Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. ⁶⁶ You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. ⁶⁷ In the morning you will say, “If only it were evening!” and in the evening, “If only it were morning!”—because of the terror that will fill your hearts...

 

God, through Moses tells the Israelites that if they worship other gods (like we do - money, success, security, significance, relationships, power, etc.) there will be symptoms cropping up from that fatal disease. Some of those symptoms are sleeping problems, restlessness, anxiety, depression, discontentment, irrational fears, etc. Now a lot of us go to doctors to treat these symptoms but are we looking for the root cause of them- a life worshipping things that aren't made to be worshipped? We were made for one purpose - to worship God. Put away the Visine and go to the heart doctor - Jesus- for the cure.