I looked around as I let the dogs out this morning. I do that every morning. I look to the east to see if the sky is brightening. In the summer, the sun is already up and shining when I let them out. At this time of the year, the sun often doesn't come up till I am letting the dogs back inside. I looked up, to see the stars or the moon, if they are still out. But this morning, as I looked up, I saw very little. I looked north, and saw less than usual. I looked west, and things were not so clear. What was going on? Did the eyes that I just had corrected start to have problems. No, they were all right. This morning, it was foggy.
Really foggy. There are mornings when it is foggy outside the town. I can look down Washington to the east and see the fog over the river as I drive to church. But today, it was really thick, all over the place thick. Oh, I knew it would lift sooner than later. But this morning, the fog had rolled in and clouded my vision.
Sin does that very same thing. It will roll in and cloud my vision. That is what sin does. It clouds our vision to see the path that the Lord would have us travel. It makes the path ahead of us look dark and dangerous and the path that we just traversed look foreign and different. Sin makes our vision of the Lord foggy. Sometimes it is not too bad, we see it from afar, like seeing the fog on the river outside of town. Other times, it is really foggy, like driving in the middle of the night through pea soup thick fog. No matter what light you have on, you still have to slow down because you can't see. You try the high beams and that only blinds you more, making it harder to see at all. Yes, sin does that. There are times in our lives when we get so wrapped up in our sin that we cannot see the truth (and perhaps, we don't want to see the truth because we like our sin, perhaps even enjoy our sin). So we muddle along, groping for something to guide us, only to see that the sinful action, the sinful thoughts, the sinful situation, offers no hope or guidance. Sin says you and me, "You are on your own now, sucker! You thought I was good for you. Forget it! I am here to cause you nothing but trouble." Sometimes we see that, other times we don't want to listen to sin. We prefer to crawl around, lost in the (what we think is) bliss of sin. Only to be lost. Perhaps we cause ourselves major problems, like driving 60 mph in the thick nighttime fog only to have that deer step in front of us, at the moment we are there, unable to brake or to turn, only to ram headlong into that which destroys and hurts us. Sin, fog, lostness.
Thanks be to Jesus that He does not leave us in that sin. He comes to us. His light breaks through the fog and gives us sight. He seeks us out. He finds us crawling around on the ground, groping blindly for something, clears the fog, lifts us to our feet, wipes off the dirt, cleans off the grass stains with His blood in the waters of Baptism, and once again, begins to lead us, as only a Good Shepherd can do. Oh, thank You Jesus! for seeking me out, for finding me in the fog of my sin, and clearing my vision and giving to me the wonder of life with You. Thank You for forgiveness. Thank You for rescuing me. Thank You for picking me up. Thank You for cleansing me. Thank You!
The fog has lifted. I can see again. And I rejoice. Songs of thankfulness and praise, I sing to God today for the clarity of faith that He has given to me. I pray, that He will give that to you as well.
Off I go, walking the path that Jesus has placed me on today.
No comments:
Post a Comment