Lessons from the Corn Wagon

We live in the country. We have a corn/pellet stove that heats our house in the winter.  We also have a small corn wagon that we store corn in. This morning I was outside and noticed this terrible smell coming from that area. I went over to the wagon and what I discovered turned my stomach for many reasons. Apparently my husband and I assumed that the wagon was empty. We also apparently thought the wagon was dry. Both were very very incorrect. What I discovered was some of the smelliest and most rotten substance I have ever encountered and hope to never encounter again. As I was shoveling it out and holding back the urge to vomit, the thought occurred to me that this wagon of disgusting rotten corn is ME!!

Me? How? The wagon full of rotten corn reminded me of me because it made me think of my "hidden sins."  The sins I have in my life that I don't want anyone to find out about, or maybe the sins that I haven't confessed to God because I'm so ashamed, or maybe the sins that I think are "not that big of a deal" so they go unrepented.   Whatever the case may be, all of those sins are still sitting there, rotting away my relationship and closeness to the Lord.  What I realized as I was shoveling out the corn wagon grossness was that this is what my sin is like to Jesus.  The sins that I commit daily turn His stomach too, if left unrepented.  He wants me to acknowledge my sins on a daily basis and come to Him with them and ask for forgiveness.  It's a free gift that He offers to me, and yet sometimes, I choose to not accept it.  I choose to think "it'll be ok."  And just like me thinking the corn wagon was "ok," it's not.  The unrepented sin sits in my heart and soul and rots.  It spoils my relationship with Jesus.  It keeps me from being closer to Him and feeling His presence.  And just as I had to shovel all of the rotten corn out of the wagon, I realized that I needed to get rid of all the unrepented sins in my life.  I needed to acknowledge them all, everything weighing on my heart and spoiling my relationship with Christ, and clean out my heart, ask for forgiveness, and be ready to be filled again, just like I did with that yucky corn wagon today. 

"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and His word is not in us."  1 John 1:8-10 NIV

Lisa Powell