Holiness

Sunday nights at our church aren't "typical". (Although, in this day in time what used to be "typical" may not be anymore!) Anyway, we are in a spring semester of Disciple University. This is where several classes are offered on Sunday nights and everyone chooses one to attend. Shaun has been teaching one on parenting teenagers. I am taking a class on discipleship called "The Next Step". It was actually written by our teacher. This week's lesson was on Holiness. Man, it was awesome. The illustration that David, our teacher used was so simple, and, yet, I'd never thought of it that way.

He had a wedding dress displayed. This was a wedding dress belonging to our church pianist. Her husband is in our class. He started out talking about what makes a wedding dress special. Some of the answers were: it's white, only worn once, symbolizes purity, etc. Also there is a ton of fabric that goes into making a wedding dress. It's not a dress we would wear on a normal Sunday morning!

So then, David proceeded to pour about 2 ounces of grape juice into a cup. He said he hadn't gotten permission, but since there was so much fabric he was going to pour a little bit of grape juice on it. Whoa! The women in our class immediately started objecting, even though we figured he wasn't really going to do it. He said that it would only make a stain about 2 inches. What's 2 inches going to matter? You probably wouldn't even see it! But we women know that even a 2 inch stain on a wedding dress would ruin the whole thing. That would be all anyone would look at! (He didn't pour the juice on the dress, by the way.)

About halfway through this demonstration I was hit with what he was getting at. It gave me "God bumps". The lesson is that we are supposed to be holy...pure and white and unblemished. Kinda like a wedding dress. But when we sin, even just a little "2 inch" sin, we are no longer pure. I am so thankful for Grace, because without it I would be covered with stains. But because of Grace, do I get a free pass to sin all I want, as long as I ask for forgiveness? No. God still wants me to strive to become more and more like Him. That means that when I sin, I have to repent and not do it anymore! But boy, is that easier said than done! Especially with those things that seem to constantly be a struggle. And with the "little" sins that I sometimes shrug off. It's so easy to think that because I don't kill anybody, or steal, or cheat, or even tell big humongous lies, I'm doing ok. However, a sin is a sin in God's eyes.

I know I have a lot to work on. How's your wedding dress?