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The
Law of
Spiritual Hygiene
By
Jim Hammond
The 4th law of the 10 Commandments--"Remember
the Sabbath day by keeping it holy" (Exodus 20:8)--is a
lot like the simple law we learned
as kids, brush your teeth! As
adults we learned the more sophisticated laws of teeth.
Daily brushing doesn’t solve everything.
That’s why we go in for check ups and teeth cleanings.
Two things happen when I go for my regular cleaning.
1) My teeth get cleaned in a way that I am personally unable to
do on my own, and 2) I hear “a sermon” about the importance of good
dental hygiene. Please permit me to go further with this analogy.
When you don’t do regularly scheduled cleanings,
you will eventually have problems.
What would you think of me if I said, “Well I had my teeth
cleaned last Monday so I haven’t brushed my teeth since then?”
Some things we should do as a matter of priority.
These priorities become habits for our own good.
God made us, and gave us the owner’s manual (the Bible) that
tells us how we function best. The
10 commandments are for our own good.
They are also for the good of others.
Just as there are definite social consequences for not brushing
your teeth, there are personal and social consequences for neglecting
the scheduled refining moments God prescribed for our lives.
We may not see many consequences for neglect right away. It
happens between the teeth in spots that are hidden from our view.
But after a while we notice something.
Perhaps first it is something somebody else notices--bad breath!
If bad breath doesn’t identify that there is a problem, then
pain will. Things happen
when you neglect your regular cleaning.
Have you noticed that hanging on the wall at most dentist offices
are pictures of bad teeth? Do
you know what these are? Pictures
of judgement! In effect the
dentist points to them and says, “You don’t want to go there!”
Dentists are preachers for your mouth.
Moral problems are solved under the steady hand of
the Soul Dentist. He looks
into your moral mouth, your soul. He
probes around a bit. Sitting
in the pew sometimes can feel like sitting in the dentist chair. Sometimes it hurts a bit when he hits that sensitive nerve.
You wince. He asks,
have you been flossing and brushing? Here’s a spot that has a problem. He asks if you will let Him address the problem.
We ask how much will it cost?
Then, if we let him, He drills out the rot in your life.
It hurts a little but when you let Him, He fills the holes with
gold.
I have some sensitive spots on my teeth even while
cleaning. My dentist
recommended a fluoride type solution to put over those sensitive spots.
I’ve found that God has done the same.
“Therefore, there is now no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” (Romans
8:1). I don’t mind a little discomfort now while the
cleaning takes place because I know that in the end I can smile.
Most people don’t neglect their teeth for
long. And why not?
Because it costs too much, it hurts, it looks rotten, and it
ruins your social life. You
become offensive. God
gave us the regular Spiritual Hygiene plan in the owner’s manual.
Commandment number one (Exodus 20:3) takes care of the daily
brushing. It is an everyday
thing that we love the Lord our God and Him above everything else.
Commandment number four (Exodus 20:8) tells us our regular
maintenance schedule before God that we cannot perform by ourselves.
It would do us good to look at our every day commitment to God
and our every week commitment to God the same way we look at our
commitment to work—as a matter of priority.
These scheduled cleanings are not something we wait till we feel
like doing. Christianity
isn’t a “when I feel like it” kind of relationship.
One more thing, these commands were never meant to be requirements to
earn acceptance and approval from God, but prescriptions from the God
who initiated a relationship with sinners.
Jesus said he came for those who were sick (Mark 2:17).
Holiness is not achieved by keeping the 10 commandments. Holiness
is received from Jesus who kept them perfectly and gives us his holiness
as a gift (Ephesians 2:8-9). Then
by his power he cleans us up in practice as we follow his directions.
They are Doctor’s orders.
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