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Well, as a married woman I am very blessed to have the help of my husband as we travel through life; this week he has been on a trip and so I am utterly aware of all the hats that I wear. Let’s see…I am a wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend, mentor, housekeeper, cook, nurse, referee, manager, pastor’s wife, hairdresser, princess……..(just kidding on the last one except when I am playing dress-up with my kids). So what is missing? Why do we look at our lives martyristically (yes, I think I made up this word) and focus so much on WHAT we do instead of WHO we are? Really, if we would just realize that we are children of God, then everything else would just fall into place. I mean, shouldn’t the hat, “child of God” be the huge sombrero on our head that everything else just fits under? Hmmm….so maybe we need to look at the size of the hat rather than the number of hats that we wear. If being a child of God encompasses all of who we are, isn’t this the hat that we should wear with every outfit and for all occasions?

Strange, I know, but my recent experience of illness with my 2 year old brought many thoughts to mind. So, not to go all SAT-like and stuff, I will elaborate. So here are the similarities I found between sin and vomit: disgusting, inevitable, embarrassing at times, leaves a stain, you can’t take it back, can be contagious, foul, exhausting, lingering Effects, can take your breath away, can make you feel sorry for yourself, can make your stomach churn, caustic, can be public or private, can ruin, can leave a bad taste in your mouth and can make people walk away from you. I thought it interesting at first that I could think of so many similarities, and then realized that it is no mistake that both of these vile things could be compared so easily. So why is it that every time we see someone throw up (especially if it is on you), we are so disgusted by it, but when we see sin, sometimes it is actually enticing to us? If we actually saw sin for what it really is, would we still think it is fun or intriguing or easy? I say “easy” because it is, isn’t it? I mean, trying to be good or do good is hard work, right? Or is that just something we convince ourselves so we won’t have to change? Living a life in obedience to God—why is it so hard for us to do and why do we continue to make excuses for our choices? Of course we can say, “well, we are all sinners.” Sure we are, but at some point we need to take responsibility for our choices instead of continuing to blame Eve or the snake or whatever else is convenient to blame at the time. Do we continue to choose sin because “it is in our nature” or do we choose to be fulfilled and renewed and be free of all the guilt and and grossness that binds us to this terminal world that we live in? So I compare obedience to an antiemetic-well, they are calming, settling, brings peace, takes that icky feeling away, prevents, alleviates, suppresses, prohibits, is deliberate and reduces the incidence of-(that’s my favorite I think). Reality–sin is going to happen, but faithful obedience will definatley “reduce the incidence” of it. To live a life of obedience to God-it takes the guesswork out of life. There are so many choices to make, why would we not want to make the best ones? When we follow God’s leading in our everyday occurrences, it will start to become natural and even the “difficult” or non-popular decisions will be “easy” because we will know they are the right decisions and we will have the peace that passes all understanding. Sin is a choice; obedience is a choice; so what is your choice today?