Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Expire (08/01/13)
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TITLE: Spoiled | Previous Challenge Entry
By Melinda Bozak
08/08/13 -
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He can never seem to remember to heed his mother's repeated admonitions against drinking from the carton. Every time, his response is the same.
'Sorry mom, I forgot.' – accompanied by a smooch on the cheek. 'It won't happen again.' He is sincere...he just never follows through on the commitment.
So it keeps happening... over... and over... and over. This time, however, is different. David experiences the consequences of his disobedience in a very immediate and unpleasant way.
“Oh man, quick – I need something else to drink!” David mumbles to his mom as he laps water from the faucet. He begs for anything to remove the foul taste from his mouth.
Laughing, David's mom reaches for the orange juice and a glass and begins to pour. “Maybe if you would listen to your mother about pouring milk into a glass, instead of chugging it from the carton, you might have noticed the expiration date. You may have at least noticed that it didn't smell right.”
Wiping his mouth dry while reaching for the juice David replies, “I won't ever do that again. You can count on it. That is TERRIBLE!” shuddering at the thought of the foul tasting out-of-date milk.
Still laughing at her son, Jeannie thinks to herself, “Hmm... maybe – after that experience.”
Fortunately most of us can go to the store, purchase a fresh carton, and replace our expired milk. Out with the old. In with the new. It's that simple.
Hebrews 5:27-28(NLT) 27 And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, 28 so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.
Unlike perishable food, however, we don't have the benefit of an expiration date stamp. Our days on earth are numbered. Just like the food we buy in the store, our lives have expiration dates as well. We simply cannot know if there is a 100th birthday party in our future, or if we will breathe our last breath tonight, sitting at home in our living room.
When we sin, we are repeating the same empty promise to God that David repeated to his mother, 'Sorry, it won't happen again.' Perhaps we make an empty promise to be obedient, 'God, I promise to...(fill in the blank)'. Perhaps like the spoiled milk sitting on the shelf in the fridge, we go every Sunday and sit in church like we're 'supposed' to. However, just like being in the refrigerator cannot make bad milk good, simply being in church cannot save a sinner.
In this world, our lives are, by our nature, 'spoiled' by sin. Yet God loves each and every one of us. He does not desire to discard us because of our sin. His desire to renew us, and to restore our relationship with Him. We have the Word of God to instruct us, and a Savior- Jesus Christ, who 'replaces' our sinful souls with His Spirit... We are renewed when we obey Gods' commands and allow His Spirit to transform us.
Psalm 39:4(NLT) “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered—how fleeting my life is.”
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Great job. Thanks.
God bless~
The only advice I might offer would be to use ellipses, em dashes, and exclamation points sparingly. Sometimes they can distract from your article. Also remember that an ellipsis is meant to show a trailing off or missing words in a quotation while an em dash--is more of a sudden interruption.
You did a wonderful job of transitioning to your message. By pouring milk in a glass, we can see the chunky gunk or if it's a brilliant white. Jesus can look into our hearts and see the same thing. Thankfully, his blood washes away the gunk leaving us pure white in his eyes. Beautiful devotion.