No one ever told me not to pour grease down the kitchen sink. Well, truthfully, I specifically remember the e-mail campus housing sent regarding the proper disposal of grease. I simply did not listen, and our mistakes have a way of catching up with us.
As I poured the grease down the sink, I had a sinking (pun intended) feeling that it would come back to haunt me. That sense increased as the running water began to rise from the drain. I frantically checked for a blockage, but found nothing; the problem was in the pipes. My roommate and I began bailing out the water with a mopping bucket like we were in a sinking lifeboat! However, even after pouring Draino down the hole, the clog remained. Our only remaining option was to call campus maintenance. But then I would need to come clean about ignoring the Grease Rule.
Although I argued we could live without our kitchen sink, my roommate called maintenance the next day and then left me alone to confess. As the man tried to figure out the problem, I managed to dodge most of his probing questions. But once he opened the pipes, all my excuses came flooding out in the form of grease-mixed-with-Draino flavored water. Not only did the water strip the color from our splattered clothes (which prompted the maintenance man to run screaming to my bathroom sink), but it revealed the source of the clog: It looked as though an entire bucket of Crisco had been shoved down the pipe.
“How many times did you pour grease down this sink?” asked the drenched and fuming man sitting on my kitchen floor. “Well,” I shamefully replied, “perhaps more than once or twice…” When something is wrong internally, it does not take long before the problem rises to the surface. If there is anger, bitterness, jealousy, or any other destructive vices in my heart, they will eventually come out of hiding. I may conceal thoughts and feelings from others within the inner chambers of my heart, yet my actions will reveal what lies beneath the surface. Many times when I feel distant from God it is because I have been resisting His work in my life. I have allowed sin to block all entrances to my heart, and the stagnant water on the surface is the evidence. I can lie to everyone else, but God sees behind the scenes. What I need is for Him to come and fix the problem. But will I let Him? Just as I realized that my lack of plumbing skills left me in need of rescuing, so have I realized I cannot fix the inner problems of my soul. Will I make that call, or am I content to live with a life full of dirty water?
“‘Come let us discuss this,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will be like wool.’”
Mike Blackaby is 25 years old and is the college and young adult pastor at First Baptist Church in Jonesboro, GA. Mike loves to play music, loves to snowboard, play hockey, and cheers for the Colorado Avalanche. He is terrified of spiders, but loves reading fantasy novels, watching movies, taking road trips, building camp fires, and will do any roller coaster if someone goes with him. You can contact him via Facebook.