John 11:39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.

There was a boy in school that all the guys called Stinky. His body odor was so foul yet shaming him did not change him. He was until the end of his school days Stinky.

My point? We who were dead in our sins all stink. Are we going to deny it? Do we wear it with pride shoving it in the face of those who are offended? It was a shameful behavior to call Johnny anything other than his given name. I dare say some didn’t even know his name was Johnny.

It is a common human practice to avoid people who stink. It is a vain fear to think that their stink will get on you. Saving the lost can be stinky business. That didn’t stop Jesus. Why does it stop us?

We don’t like to be uncomfortable. We came out of a life that was uncomfortable. We stank. Now that we are out of it, we do not care to go back. Great, I agree, but where would you be if someone had not come and loved on you back when you were stinky? Who knows better the way out other than those who have been there?

Isaiah 42:13-15 The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies. I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once. I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools.

Will you make a difference in Stinky’s life?

Matthew 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Why are you a (insert your religion here)? Is your answer affiliated with a family member?

I was witnessing to an Indonesian man who confessed he was not a good (named religion). I asked him why. His answer didn’t surprise me at all. “Because I do not do what is required.” That didn’t surprise me because many Christians are the same way. We do not have a lock on failed behaviors.

Naturally my next question was; “Why do you call yourself a (named religion)?” His answer was as I expected. “Because I love my father.”

I’ve not named that religion because it is irrelevant. If your allegiance is to a person you love then your religion is false and of no use to you. I have heard many say I worshipped my father. Their father was not God. The (named religion) expects adherence to principles. Christianity is no different.

Galatians 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

When we think lust we do not think love of a parent, but to place a parent’s love before God is a form of idol worship, an act of love of the flesh. It is not spiritual in nature and the reason my friend could not do those things which were principles of his religion. His allegiance is to flesh.

I honestly did not pledge my allegiance to God until after my father’s death. It was a gracious God who allowed me to live that long because I would have been lost to Him if I had died before my father. That is a truth I did not understand until after I accepted Christ as my Lord.