A Hole in My Bumper -- Reflections on Sin

     There's a hole in my bumper.  On the day after Christmas, I was backing out of a tight squeeze and hit the base of one of those light poles that they stick right in your blind spot.  I got out and looked at my mangled bumper in complete and utter shock.  I cried all the way home.  


     I really don't care what type of car that I drive.  I don't.  I just want it to work.  After I smashed my bumper, though, I realized that rust doesn't bother me.  Paint flakes don't bother me.  Age doesn't bother me.  Big gaping holes in the bumper -- that bothers me.  That hurts my pride.  


     The bumper was just not doing well.  My husband taped it with silver duct tape to keep it together.  I looked at it sadly, shaking my head.  "That looks awful," I thought.  We looked into having it fixed -- $1200.  It's not worth fixing; the car is too old.  I commented that the silver duct tape was embarrassing.  One day, my husband and son, decided to "fix" my poor, sad, embarrassing bumper.  They applied royal blue duct tape to my navy blue bumper, hoping to camouflage the gaping hole.  Now, I can see the hole from a block away.  It's an advertisement that says loud and clear:  YOU smashed your own bumper.

     A few days later, I went back to the scene of the "crime."  I picked up broken little pieces of my bumper and threw them into my car.  Why?  I have no idea.  I noticed that the business had put up a sign on the pole that said, "Caution:  Not responsible for damages." 


     I realized today, that after the initial and incredible embarrassment of driving around with a blue and silver duct-taped hole in my bumper, that I don't notice it as much as I used to.  It doesn't bother me as much.  It's annoying, and every once in a while I look at it and shudder, but frankly, I've grown somewhat accustomed to it.  Sure makes my car easy to spot in the parking lot. People in 3rd world countries would love driving this car, I reason.  We'll get another car soon, I assure myself.


     Sin is that way.  It enters your life, often unexpectedly.  It's embarrassing.  You don't want anyone to know.  It makes you cry.  It hurts.  Then, if you don't get right with the Lord and get it fixed, it sort of grows on you.  Every time you see it, it's a little less embarrassing -- a little less shocking.  Next thing you know, you're pointing it out with pride.  Yep, that's just who I am.  The dude with the great big ole sin --  just like my duct-taped hole in my bumper.  


     Then, later, the enemy puts up a sign that says, "Caution:  Not responsible for damages."  Sin always leaves behind damages.  Consequences for you and those around you.  While you are picking up all the broken pieces, sin does not care.  


     Thankfully, God does care. "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."  (John 3:17)    Unfortunately, as James 1:15 says, "...after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." The enemy wants to put a hole in our bumper, make us ineffective, or even worse -- bring us to death.  Thankfully, though, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."  (1 John 1:9)


     So when it comes to sin, get your bumper fixed.