She is laying on her tummy. Feet kicking excitedly up and down. Little delightful squeaks\u00a0escape her lips. Her eyes are on something under the couch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It’s the lost toy and the finding is pure joy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hesitate. Under the couch. A dreaded place. Ignored. What I can’t see I don’t know about.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Getting down low I see it all. The dust bunnies accumulated over the years. Under the couch is like the scary attic I never enter. Reaching my hand and clenching my teeth hand grasping the toy. The toy is retrieved\u00a0now yet I am left with the filth. Do I get up off the floor and ignore it the best I can? Forget about the dust bunnies I just saw. Or do I jump for the vacuum cleaner and go to work moving the furniture immediately?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Under the couch is like an unexposed secret, a sin growing in filth. As it grows, it becomes more difficult to tackle. As it grows, it becomes overwhelming and haunting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Are the dust bunnies worth hours of cleaning later? Is that sin under the couch worth hurting yourself or others over?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Today’s story reminds me that it is easy to cover up. It is easy to go about my daily life and forget about “the dust bunnies under my couch.” I am capable of living without dealing with my “dust bunnies”. However is something more precious suffering? Is my relationship with my Lord and Savior losing\u00a0sweetness? Is my relationship with my Father suffering at the weight of sin?\u00a0<\/p>\n
These are hard questions. Convicting. But better now, dear friends, then on judgement day. What is “under your couch”? Repent before God. Confess to esteemed brothers or sisters if needed. Get out the vacuum. Start the cleaning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A blessing beyond what the “dust bunnies” could ever give is waiting for me, waiting for you.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
John 8:34\u00a0<\/em>Jesus replied, <\/em>\u201cI tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin.<\/em> NLT<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Acts 3:19\u00a0Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.<\/em> NLT<\/p>\n 2 Peter 3:9\u00a0<\/em>The Lord is not slow to <\/em>fulfill his promise as some count <\/em>slowness, but is patient toward you,\u00a0not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance<\/em>. ESV<\/span><\/p>\n James 5:16\u00a0Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.<\/em> ESV<\/p>\n Isaiah 59:2\u00a0But your iniquities have separated<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>you from your God;\u00a0<\/span><\/span>your sins have hidden his face from you,\u00a0<\/span><\/em>so that he will not hear.<\/em> NIV<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Matthew 4:17\u00a0From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, <\/em>\u201cRepent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u201d<\/em> ESV<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" She is laying on her tummy. Feet kicking excitedly up and down. Little delightful squeaks\u00a0escape her lips. Her eyes are on something under the couch.\u00a0 It’s the lost toy and the finding is pure joy.\u00a0 I hesitate. Under the couch. A dreaded place. Ignored. What I can’t see I don’t know about.\u00a0 Getting down low […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","sharing_disabled":false,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[16,31,37],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/shutterstock_336993668.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7NWg5-ei","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=886"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":887,"href":"https:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886\/revisions\/887"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}