Pool Slime and Pet Sins

Yesterday after dinner, we began the necessary but dreaded task of taking off the tarp which covers our above-the-ground pool.  It's almost always more complicated that it should be.  Only once has the process gone smoothly.  Something nearly always goes wrong.

Yesterday was no exception.

As six of our seven family members surrounded the pool (our daughter Megan was working), we reminded one another of the cardinal rule:  Do not let any edge of the tarp fall down into the pool!  Because once that happens, all the slime on top of it (decomposed leaves, bird droppings, dirt, algae, and the like) can easily make its way into the nice, clean water underneath it all.  

Well, we no sooner started pulling the cover off, then part of the tarp's edge started going under.  "Quick!  Grab it!" we yelled to the kid who was closest.  Whew!  Catastrophe avoided.  So the process continued.  Slowly but surely we made it from one end of the pool to the other.  Now the final heave to get that last little part OVER the edge of the pool without ANY of the slime slipping into the water.  

Problem was, there was too much water on top of the tarp, and now it was all gathered into one place.   It smelled to high heaven.  It was grotesquely green.  The sickening aroma was sapping our strength as we tried with all our might to get that last little bit over the edge.  

"Somebody needs to get in the pool and help us lift this from underneath the tarp!"  Our son Matthew bravely volunteered.  He got into the pool and got his arms underneath the sagging portion of the tarp filled with 300 pounds worth of sludge, as the rest of us held on to the surrounding edge of the tarp, pulling with all our might.

The smell was getting stronger.  Our arms were getting weaker.  Then, to our horror, we saw some of the slimy, green sludge seeping through an unguarded segment of the tarp.  "Quick!  It's seeping into the pull!  Who's not grabbing the edge?  Pull, everybody, pull!"  And pulled we did - with all our might.

Then it happened.  Somehow, some way, somebody lost their hold.  The tarp caved under the weight, and the whole of the slime rushed into the pool - every single drop of it.  A thick green, algae-infested cloud spread its filth throughout what had been, seconds earlier, a clear and clean pool, until all of the water was contaminated with dirt, leaves, algae, and bird poop.

Who wants to swim in that?

So now we (mainly Ruthie, our pool expert) are left with the challenge of trying to filter all that filth out of our pool.  Later I was kicking myself, knowing that we should have emptied out some of that filthy water bucket by bucket, until the remaining amount was light enough to gather up in the tarp and throw over the edge.

Okay, somewhere in this mess there is a lesson for us.  I think it has to do with the pet sins that are left untouched in our lives.  Our heart, like the pool, can be freed from all other impurities.  We let the Lord deal with those.  But those little pet sins, like an algae-infested puddle, are left alone.  We figure that, when the time is right, we'll get rid of it without a problem.

But there already is a problem.  The sin is bigger than we think it is.  It's not as easy to get rid of as we thought it was.  We think it's no big deal when it's a very big deal.  Because we didn't let the Lord take care of it, we try to root it out ourselves, in our own strength.  And what happens?  Everything falls apart, and that sin spills all over, contaminating our whole heart.  Our whole person becomes polluted because of that one permitted sin.  And, oh, the price we pay.  If only we had gotten rid of it in the right way when we had the opportunity!

Well, getting back to our situation, we called "the pool guy," and he basically said that while our pool is not beyond help, it will take a lot of time and effort to get things back where they should be.  

Unaddressed sin leads to the same result.  The damage it does does not put us in a hopeless or helpless condition.  But it will take a lot of time and effort to get things back the way that they should be.  

Thankfully, we have a long-suffering and gracious Lord who is ready to help us in our time of need.  He is the "expert" at solving the sin issues in our lives.  The best thing we can do when we have made a mess of things is to go to Him, admit our failures, and ask Him for His help.  He will gladly give it.  Oh, it will indeed take a lot of time and effort on our part, but we can be assured that our great Savior will give us the grace to do what we need to do.

So, what slimy sin is sitting there in the recesses of your heart?  Root it out!  Ask God to help you; He will.  Then enjoy a good swim in the cool and refreshing waters of His grace.