I stink

Have you ever been around something that's dead and rotting? The stench is overwhelming! It's intense and like nothing else - you'll never mistake it.

DH and I are CSI fans (the original one, not the knockoffs) and there was one episode that really made an impression on me. Sarah and one of the guys is trying to determine the identity and cause of death for a body found in the desert (wait - don't they ALL start out like this...?) This particular body was in a bag of some sort, and had liquified, in essence. Long story short, she's trying to impress a guy, but is covered in the stench of this rotting body that she literally can't wash away. Something about the rancid body fat clinging to her hair, etc. Just a really nasty thought. The impression I was left with was that she was going to be smelling like this for a long time, regardless of how often she bathed.

Which brings me to the story of Lazarus in John 11. Jesus wants the stone in front of the tomb rolled away. Those there with Him protest as Lazarus has been in the tomb for four days, and to be honest, he stinks. But all Jesus knows is that He loves Lazarus and that God has a plan. He doesn't care about the decay, the smell, the dirt. He just knows that this is why He came. He is willing to face the stink of death for the one He loves.

No matter how much we bathe, put on expensive perfumes and powders, we, too, stink of death and decay and sin. But He can get past that. He can get through the stink, through the pretense, through the rebellion, through my hardened heart and stiff neck.

Just so that I could come out smelling like a rose.