Clean, Odorless Water

I am posting this a week after I wrote it but thats ok lol...

So today was needed a drink for lunch and I hate spending money on a drink when water would suffice. Yes, normally places have water cups but only seldomly to they come with lids. So I quickly went through my back pack and came across *dadada!* my coffee mug! I could fill it up with water and it would be perfect. So I went to the drinking fountain and rinsed it out pretty well so I would not have to drink coffee water. However, after I drank my first sip, I knew something was off. I knew the water was clean but somehow it didn't taste right. So instead of taking another sip, I took a big whiff... (pause to quote a movie "Missy's the poo *sniff* so take a big whiff") Anyway, there it was... the smell of coffee. Even though the water normally would have tasted normal, the smell was influencing how I perceived the taste. I know I'm not making this up because I remember learning in Psychology that taste and smell are in fact connected. This is precisely why I like to smell foods before I try them, in order to prepare myself for the taste.

Now, in my coffee case, the smell was not enhancing my sense of taste, it was harming it. The smell was overpowering my desire to taste clear water. I feel like in my spiritual life there is always something, some smell that negatively effects my ability to thirst for the Lord, to fully taste the glory of God. And I don't think I'm alone in this, I think we all have this thing. It could be a relationship, a feeling, anything. Basically sin.. or a cause of sin.. or just the devil taking our focus off of God. I am thus calling this a STENCH, the unappetizing smell that causes a wedge between us and God.

Ironically, the message at my church on Sunday happens to go with this. It was about cutting off the causes of sin ( see Mark 9). I think we need to eliminate these odors in our lives. So what is the stench in your life and how is it influencing your relationship with Christ? Currently, my main stench is letting "the world" get in the way of me and God, living in society's way rather than God's. I hope that God can eliminate this odor in my life and whatever is hindering you in your life as well. I hope that the purity of the water can wash it away. Give it to God guys, let Him wipe away the stench and leave you fully quenched and satisfied.