Lessons from Grease

Just over a week ago, I grilled some hamburgers on my indoor grill pan. And when I say "some," I mean enough to feed 21 adults and children.

Now, I don't know if you've ever used one of those things before, but if not, let me just save you the trouble. When I was done, the pan was such an awful mess it took 3 of us taking turns at scrubbing to get it to come clean.

And that was just the grill pan. You should have seen the stove. The grease splattered ALL OVER the place. We're talking all over the stove, the wall behind the stove, the utensils that live in a container next to the stove, and well, everything anywhere near the stove, including the floor. So when the party wound down, I got out my handy kitchen cleaner and went to work. After some good scrubbing (and lots of help from my lovely family), we got the kitchen sparkling clean (or so I thought), and I went to bed thinking that was the end of that.

But the next morning when I went in the kitchen, I was greeted by a very unpleasant smell. I realized pretty quickly where it was coming from; the stove.

"Great," I thought. "There's still grease somewhere."

So, I cleaned it all again.

And again.

And again.

I can't tell you how many times I've cleaned that thing and thought the smell must be gone by now only to come back later and find that it still wreaks of smelly grease.

I've removed the control knobs and cleaned behind them. I've cleaned the whole vent-hood-thing-y (whatever it's called), including the vent cover and the fan inside it. I've cleaned the grooves that are hard to get to on the oven door handle. I've wiped down the cabinets. I left out baking soda and vinegar over night to see if that would absorb the smell. I've even pulled the stove completely out from the the wall (thank you, honey!) so I could clean it on all sides.

The smell is still there.

As I've pondered what else to try, I've also wondered if there is a lesson hidden in this whole escapade. I love to find little illustrations in life that go along with what the Bible teaches. Somehow looking for the gold in the dirt, so to speak, makes the chore seem a whole lot more tolerable. You know?

And by prayerful thought and God's grace, I found it! (The lesson, I mean. Not the grease.) You're just dying to know what it is, aren't you? I thought so!

Sin is Like Grease
Ok, so sin is like grease. When grease is first cooking, it smells yummy. Those hamburgers made my mouth water smelling them while they splattered away in the pan. Some of our guests even commented on how good they smelled as they pulled into the driveway. Sin can seem equally yummy. If it wasn't appealing, we wouldn't want to eat it.

Grease Turns Nasty
But when the meat has been eaten, the grease that remains turns nasty. If my hamburger had smelled the way my stove has for the last week, I assure you I would not have eaten that hamburger. The first bites of sin taste good too, but it leaves behind a residue in our hearts. It makes us filthy, smelly, and downright ugly. So how do we get clean?

We Confess; God De-greases
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." And God's cleaning is far more effective than my bottle of Lysol, because it's the blood of Jesus that "cleanses us from all sin"(I John 1:7 & 9). But did you catch that first part? "If we confess..."

Sin May Be Obvious
Sometimes our sin is obvious to us, and we confess it quickly; like the grease I first saw on the stove right after I cooked the hamburgers. I could see it was dirty, so I cleaned it.

Sin May Be Hidden
But what about the sin we don't realize is there; sin that's stinking up our lives and we don't know where it is hiding? Sin we would confess if we knew about it. Maybe it's because we don't know it is sin, or maybe because we've been doing it so long, we don't "smell" it anymore. As I've been working on making my home smell nice again, I have worried that my nose would get use to the smell before I figured out where it was coming from and think it must be gone when it wasn't. How bad would that be! My house would stink and I wouldn't even know it! I would need a friend, someone who cares about me enough to tell me the truth, to let me know (gently!) that my house didn't smell so good.

Friends Show Us Our Sin
Likewise, we need to have friends in our lives who love us enough to (gently!) tell us when we are sinning. As it says in Hebrews 10:24, "Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds." As we "spur each other on," sometimes that will include (gently!) pointing out the areas that need improvement.

Scripture Shows Us Our Sin
God also shows us our sin through His Word. "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (II Timothy 3:16). I know my stove stinks because I've had the privilege of smelling better things. Things that make me go, "Mmmm." I have a reference point, so to speak. If I had never smelled anything good, I may not especially enjoy the aroma wafting from the stove, but I might not know just how bad it is. Likewise, if we want to know what sin is and how badly it makes us stink, we need to read the Bible and "be transformed by the renewing of our minds, so that we may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:2).

The Search Continues
So, the hunt for the grease on my stove continues. I really hope I can find soon. I'd rather not smell it every time I go to the kitchen to prepare a meal. It just isn't very appetizing. But even more, I pray God will show me if there is any grease hiding in my heart. To have a stinky stove is an inconvenience. To have a stinky heart is a hindrance (Hebrews 12:1). So, I join with the Psalmist and pray:

"Search me, Oh God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way." (Psalm 139:24)