Sin as a Mud-puddle

On Thursday night, Josh's lesson was about Hebrews 12:1-2, and how the author encourages us to lay aside every sin that ensnares us. We talked about some practical, biblical ways to accomplish that, as well as having a discussion on the general nature of sin.

(By the way, remember that your memorization / meditation verses for this passage are 2 Timothy 2:22 and Psalm 119:9-16)

I was thinking about the general nature of sin today as I played with my little 3 year old at the park. Eventually, after interest in all the parent-sanctioned playground toys began to wane, Zak found his way over to the mud-puddle. As he approached it (being sternly warned by me), I was fascinated to see how his growing interest and involvement with the mud-puddle began to mirror my own dallying with sin.

First step: walk blatantly through the mud-puddle with non-puddle approved shoes, followed by instantly looking in my direction (and receiving) admonishment.

Second step: "Oh... I'm just throwing the leaves and sticks into the puddle... Look! They float!"

Third step: Using one of the larger sticks to just poke at the puddle from a distance, and eventually using the stick to flick the mud surrounding the puddle into the water. (By the way, this looked like fun, but I was too sanctimonious to participate).

Fourth step: Zak is now squatting perilously over the mud - bottom inches from wet, slimy peril, using his fingers to dally in the filth. Eventually, balance is lost and regained by putting the hand down firmly into the sludge. (Interesting: a hypocritical sense of "cleanliness" is still clung to at this point. The problem? Zak chooses to rinse his hand in water from the mud puddle! Talk about having the appearance of cleanliness (godliness) but denying its power!)

Fifth step: This one was inevitable. After losing balance a few more times and catching himself with his hand, he finally goes down completely: soaking the seat of the britches and leaving the sinner... er... child with the feeling of, "well... I'm down here in the filth anyway; I might as well have some fun!).

Romans 1:18-32 talks about how we get ourselves ankle deep in the mud of sin. After constant rejection of God, God finally gives us over to full pig status. Of course, in Zak's case, I decided that my personal object lesson had gone on long enough, so I pulled him out and gave him a proper cleaning.

I couldn't help thinking that if Zak was meditating on his father's words, and delighting in the plan that I had for him (more merry-go-round time, or something) he wouldn't have been interested in the mud. (Psalms 119:9-16)

And if he had heeded my earliest advice and ran past the mud puddle and straight to the merry-go-round, we would have never even needed to worry about microbes found in standing water. (2 Timothy 2:22)