After stopping for a few items that we needed on our way home, we entered the house in our usual Sunday night hurried fashion. Sunday evening at our house is always a little tense. The threat of “real life” returning on Monday leaves us all a little more pressured than we were when we left home earlier that day. We do final checks to make sure everything is in order for school the next day, work uniforms are clean, etc, all the while trying to gear the girls down and get ready for bed.
Our girls take turns each day with the responsibility of taking our dog out. As we entered the house that night with our bags in hand, Todd asked McKayla to put up the package of toilet paper we purchased on the way home. As he asked her to do that, he remembered that it was her “dog day”, as we call it, so he shifted the toilet paper job to Brenna. She was less than thrilled with his request.
She took the jumbo pack of toilet paper and headed down the hall toward the bathroom in a not-so-jolly fashion. Little did she know, I was not far behind her, and little did she know, I had my mommy ears on full radar. As I came around the corner, I could hear her little voice grumbling. Then I saw her head bobbing and, in a very sassy tone, I heard her ask,“Huh?Huh?Huh?” which was accompanied by the sound of the rolls of toilet paper being slung into the cabinet. I may - or may not - admit to some flashbacks from my childhood
Well, you know Momma couldn’t let that go unnoticed, so I stopped at the door and asked, “What, Brenna?”
By the look on her face, it was clear that she had been totally oblivious of my presence as she had spouted off. She tried to explain herself as she recounted the previous few moments, “I said, ‘I ALWAYS have to put up the toilet paper and Daddy told Sissy to do it first, but NOOO, she had to take the dog out, and now I have to do it. Why do I always have to do it?”
She neglected to add the head bob and the “Huh? Huh? Huh?” that I had just witnessed with my own eyes and ears. I firmly notified her that she was in trouble and told her to finish what she was doing and meet me in my room. Once she got to my room, I asked her if she knew why she was in trouble, and of course, her response was, “No.” My frustration with her raised a notch.
As a result of her no, I deepened my questioning, “Brenna, what were you JUST doing in that bathroom?” Now, let me make myself clear, the answer I was looking for was somewhere along the lines of I was smart mouthing, or I was back talking, but that is not the answer I got.
“Brenna, what were you JUST doing in that bathroom?”
Brace yourselves for this answer, my sisters –
“I was asking a question,” she answered in a soft muffle.
Isn’t that what we do with God sometimes? We justify our sin by calling it something else, by putting a generic label on it, not actually agreeing with God that whatever it is, is still sin. Technically, she was asking a question. But – in the bigger scheme of things, she was back talking her Daddy, which is why she was in trouble. She tried to make it sound like it wasn’t such a big deal by putting a generic label on it and by answering with as much innocence in her voice as she could muster.
Well, it didn’t work with Momma.
And, I’m sorry to tell us that, it doesn’t work with God either.
Within the Christian world, there are many things that we hesitate to call sin and often they are things that are subtle or even acceptable. Overeating, overspending, gossip, pride, a critical spirit, complaining, laziness, I’ll stop the list there, and let you fill in some more because my toes are hurting.
Whether we agree with God about it or not, it’s still sin. Our frame of mind, excuse, or label for it doesn’t change what it is. Numbers 32:23 tells us that our sin will find us out. So, it seems like it makes more sense that we admit it for what it is so that we don’t have to be hunted down by it. I don’t know about you, but being found out doesn’t seem too glamorous.
God, as much as I hesitate to ask this, please show me the sin in my life that I misidentify as something other than what it really is. There are already a few things coming to mind and I agree with you, they are sin. They are wrong. Break my heart, Father, for breaking Yours. Illuminate Your path for my spiritual eyes and teach me from this lesson as I start this day. This day is Yours to live through me, not mine, so may I allow You to live it in a way most pleasing to You and Your Kingdom.
Royal Princess Daughter Of The King
I just read a tweet that pounded my toes along these same lines "in the end our oppinion doesn't really matter, when we die we will not stand in front of a mirror and give an account" ouch, ouch, ouch! I can call it whatever I want! God still examines and longs to purify/transform my heart. Pruning and purging come if I admit the truth or try to justify it.
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