Stink

 

I woke up to a smell.

You know those days when something offensive is hiding out somewhere?

I checked all the obvious places.

The dog.

The pantry-  all potatoes looked and smelled fine.

I took out the trash.  

Ran the disposal with some extra baking soda and vinegar. 

No luck. 

I bleached the sink and scrubbed the counters.  

I checked the fridge.  

I sprayed air freshener and it still smelled like stink with a hint of orange blossom. 

I began hoping a rodent hadn’t died in the wall again.....but it really didn’t smell like that particular putridity. 

It was now 2:00 in the afternoon and I was becoming obsessed.

Frustrated, and with a now shiny clean kitchen, I began to retrace my steps and smell things up close and personal.  

Pantry.  Totally fine.  

Trash can......🤢🤢🤢

I removed the newly replaced bag and there in the bottom of the can was a pool of chicken sludge goop that had apparently leaked from the bag.  Even though I had done a quick spray and wipe before replacing it, I hadn’t even begun to remedy the cause of the issue.

Gross.

I tossed that bag and deep scrubbed the bin before once again replacing the liner.

One more trip to the outside trash and finally the problem was taken care of.

I had been listening to a CS Lewis book and reading in my scriptures about repentance and I mentally questioned whether or not I go to that extent when I sense a “stink” in my own life.

Do I take the time and persistence to root out the cause of my sin and errors? 

Or do I just spray a little air freshener and go about my business, idly hoping it will somehow dissipate on its own?

Am I aware of the usual spots and checking them with earnest? 

And when I need to am I permanently tossing what I need to, even if it’s fairly new, to make sure my life stays clean enough for the Holy Spirit to dwell with welcome? 

Am I going through the effort and discomfort of facing that stench and getting help when needed to get it scrubbed away? 

Alma 5:14–16, in the Book of Mormon, speaks powerfully to this point. 

"And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? … Can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands? … Have ye walked, keeping yourselves blameless before God? … Can you imagine yourselves hearing the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed …? Or do ye imagine to yourselves that ye can lie unto the Lord in that day?"

It challenges us to engage in full soul-searching repentance, not just partial or surface level change.

The Apostle Paul also invited us to turn from sin and give our whole selves to God.  

Romans 6:12–13

"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God… as instruments of righteousness unto God."

Don’t ignore or accept the stink!  Come into Christ and be clean.