Recently I was in a shop with a friend who was on the hunt for a toy frog for her daughter. In the process we saw a fake slug…I turned to my friend and explained about Matt and how he checks our kitchen floor for slugs on a night (hangover from a damp house where slugs in the kitchen were commonplace). She dared me to buy it and put it in the kitchen and see his reaction! Well it doesn’t take much encouragement for me to play a prank on my husband.
That night after we had left the kitchen and were sitting in the lounge I snuck back in and laid the huge fake slug down on the floor. Eventually Matt went back into the kitchen and I waited for the reaction. He came to the door of the lounge and was pale. He explained there was something on the floor in the kitchen, he didn’t want to turn the light on, he didn’t know what it was and he wanted me to come through. It was the slug!! He genuinely thought it was a real slug and was convinced he had seen it move. I went over and to his horror picked it up and threw it at him…a karate kick and lots of laughter later I explained about my shopping trip with my friend and our little plot to scare him. Eventually he will trust me again I’m sure!
It got me thinking…I know slugs are horrible but why was Matt too scared to turn the light on? Was it because he didn’t actually want to know what it was? If he knew it was a slug then he would have to deal with it. Whilst it was dark it could still be a toy that Zoe dropped or a shadow from the street light outside. Without the light he could kind of ignore it. Turning on the light would have illuminated the situation. In reality, leaving the light off tricked him into thinking he saw it move making it more sinister than it actually was.
Does the same not apply to us and our sin? Sin lurks hidden in the shadows. We don’t want to shine a light on it and expose it because then we would have to do something about it. Whilst it’s kind of hidden we can convince ourselves that it isn’t so bad, it isn’t so damaging. But in not turning the light on, our sin can become more sinister…the longer we try and ignore it the more it grows and eventually it becomes something much bigger and more difficult to deal with.
If Matt had turned the light on straight away he would have seen the toy was not something to be scared of. If we expose our sin to the light of Jesus we find that actually it isn’t something to be afraid of. Jesus promises us that he has dealt with our sin once and for all on the cross (Romans 6:10). All we have to do is show it to him. If we are sorry and turn our back on the sin then Jesus does the rest. Thankfully Jesus doesn’t pick the sin up and throw it back at us like I did the slug to Matt! Jesus models perfect love, which keeps no record of wrongs (1 Corinthians 13:5).
A great place to explore the freedom of forgiveness is in small group fellowship, where two or three gather to seek God and lift one another to him. If you want to experience this type of fellowship why not register for an online course with the Inspire School of Discipleship. There will be a band experience at the end of each session.
Before the Throne of God Above
When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see I’m there
Who made an end to all my sin.
Because the sinless saviour died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just was satisfied,
To look on him and pardon me,
To look on him and pardon me.
From the album ‘The Worship Initiative, Vol.3’ by The Worship Initiative and Shane and Shane
©️catapultdistribution; LatinAutorPerf, Adorando Brazil, BMI – Broadcast Music Inc., Integrity Music Publishing, Adorando Publishing, LatinAutor – UMPG, and 5 music rights societies
Rachel is an Inspire Missioner. She edits the Beacon of Hope and coordinates prayer across the Movement
