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I went to the dentist today. And I had a cavity drilled out and fixed. My mouth still hurts from the huge needles inserted in my gums so that I wouldn’t feel any pain… (that is a funny sentence…) But, I am completely fixed now (no cavities) and thank to a cool lesson from the dentist on how my mouth works and how to take care of it (I mean a very cool indepth lesson) I shouldn’t ever have cavities again!

BUT, I will. I know I will. I know that I can avoid all the pain (and expense!) of the dentist now because I know exactly what causes cavities, and I have experienced how much they hurt. So all I have to do is avoid eating those foods. And continue with a good regimen of brushing and flossing.

But I won’t. I will continue to make excuses to not brush, or floss. It takes too much time. I am too tired. And, I can’t really stop eating Ice Cream, now, can I? It’s just who I am!

Sound familiar?

Just had a conversation today with Ian about disobedience. I asked him what good he gets out of disobeying or going against anything we have told him. And he said, well, nothing really. In today’s example he just got to stay up instead of sleeping (as mom had told him) Then we figured out that the bad is far worse… he gets privileges removed and a strained relationship with mom and dad. That is very bad stuff for Ian. So, all he has to do is obey and do what he knows is right.

But he won’t. Just like I won’t.

All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the guilt and sins of us all.

We are not smart. We continue to do the stuff that hurts us for what we think at the moment is our gain. Really, we just get to not sleep (which isn’t good for us anyway) Or, we get to taste the ice cream – and then have a large man jam a needle into our head and then drill half of our tooth away. Ouch!

I ended our conversation by asking Ian how his disobeying affects how much I love him. "Does it make me love you less?" I asked? "Yes…" he replied ashamedly. I firmly and lovingly assured him… "NO." You can never change that. Ever. I will always love you. You may strain our relationship by disobedience… but, I will ALWAYS love you.

I may mess up and my relationship with my Father may need work occasionally, but I can always count on his love. He took my guilt and put it on Jesus so I would always know I can come back to him.

Rotten teeth and all.