Dogs love to sniff. They sense their world by smell. The food they eat isn’t about how good it tastes, but rather about its olfactory properties.
Terriers love to dig. Tasty roots line the soil, and small insects and other critters live just under the surface of the dirt. One whiff, and a terrier will dig in until the yard is trenched into a minefield of potholes.
The downside is the dirt left on their noses. They become filthy, and the residue of their digging dirties their water, fouls their food, and leave stains all over our clothes.
Why do Christians do the same, rooting about in sin, seeing tasty treats in the dirt, and not realizing the residue that is left all over our noses?
1 Peter 4:15 tells us to keep our noses clean:
“But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.”
Meddler definition: to become involved in something inappropriate. Another way to say it is to root in the dirt until we become filthy.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us how to keep our noses clean:
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”
Competent definition: lifted to a higher standard. Another way to say it is to live by the law of Christ.
1 Timothy 5:13 tells what happens when we relax our guard:
“Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not.”
Learn definition: to do something over and over until it is mastered. Another way to say it is to practice being wicked until it is second nature.
Acts 20:35 tells us we can lift ourselves to the standard of Christ:
“In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
Give definition: to share. Another way to say it is that when we treat our fellow man as well as we want to be treated, we have truly put into practice the standards of Christ.
Sniffing in the dirt only makes us dirty. We need to live to a higher standard, and we do that through the redeeming power of Jesus.
If we avoid the muck of sin, we’ll keep the filth of the world off the robes of Christ.
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Code: FGO.H.19.15c.vp.esv