I remember the time my family and I went to a lake for the holidays. It was good for us just to be together and just hang out. We tried our luck at fishing, but the fish did not want to cooperate. We finally resorted to extreme measures.
My oldest son went into town and bought some Limburger cheese, probably one of the stinkiest things I have ever smelled, worse than stinky feet. I borrowed some stink bait from a neighbor, and it was even worse.
Well, my grandchildren and children were in the boat when I opened the bucket of stink bait and cheese, and immediately everyone was gagging and trying to get away form the smell and even threatened to jump overboard. It is offensive to say the least.
Their response to that stinking stuff reminded me of something in the Bible. It is how God responds to sin.
God is Holy and cannot stand to be near or have sin in His presence, (Exodus 3:5, Leviticus 11:44, 45, Psalm 24:4, 5).
God loves us and wants us to be close to Him so he provided a way to remove or cover or forgive our sin, (John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Colossians 1:21, 22).
We all have sin, (Romans 3:23), and it is either forgiven in Christ, (2 Corinthians 5:20, 21) or unforgiven.
Remember, unforgiven sin smells to high heaven and leads to forever separation from God. See you in Church next Sunday.