Toxic Formula

So here’s how it went down.

My friends and I wanted to get together. A cosmetic company ended up making the cut as the theme for our party. Don’t ask why.

Next thing I know we were all buying a week’s worth of detox solution. I bet you want to know what that is. So did I. But I bought it anyway. Turns out you can mix this toxic looking stuff with some water, drink a glass a day, and well, I guess you’re supposed to get rid of all the evil things in your body. Sadly it doesn’t get rid of anger, or jealousy, or impatience…It only deals with weird toxins like who knows what.

And that stuff is scary. It’s green and seedy, and it smells. I don’t know how I fell for it, but they say peer pressure is a force to be reckoned with. I reckoned with it that day.

The package finally arrived. I beamed as I thought of the pounds of toxic waste I would be shedding soon. Then I almost died the first day I drank it. Soon my cleaning ladies quit on me. I’m not sure if it had anything to do with this stuff, but they were gone. Bye Bye. Forever gone.

Seven days into it I considered myself a survivor. I had done it. My pants didn’t feel looser, nor my body cleaner, but mentally I felt like I had climbed mount Everest. I felt green and healthy and almost signed up for the EPA.

A day later I woke up with a fat swollen lip. It turned into a huge cold sore on my upper lip such as mankind has not seen before. A week later it’s still there but smaller. You may actually miss it if I didn’t mention it, but I’m pretty sure if you look closely, it’s still there.

It’s painful, it’s slow to heal, it’s ugly, it’s gross.

And it’s a reminder of a few things:

1. Don’t trust the cosmetic lady who’s trying to sell you her products. Just because it sounds good doesn’t mean it is.

2. Don’t go with the flow, even if you like the flow. I love my friends, but I should have let them try the darn product first before I succumbed to its putrid effects.

3. Guard your heart and body. What comes into your mind and body will always come out. You pour into your mind enough dirt, eventually you will see dirt coming out . It’s not complicated. You want to be godly? You want to grow in love and peace and joy and Christ-likeness? Then be careful what you allow to come in.

4. You cannot cleanse yourself from the outside in. It has to be done from the inside out. And that is God’s work. In Ezekiel 36:26 God says “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” You can’t cleanse yourself, you can’t get rid of your own dirt and sinfulness. Only a holy God has the ability to do that for you. There isn’t a magic formula to be “good”. There is no short cut to heaven. You can’t drink enough anti-toxin bottles, you can’t work your way there. You want a relationship with God? You do it on His terms through His son Jesus Christ – who lived a perfect life, and died a painful death to pay for your sin and mine.

How toxic are you? Do you need cleansing? Get rid of your useless attempts at self purification and go to the only one who can cleanse you.

Now that is a deal you should not pass up!

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