Air Filter

The price of filling the car's gas tank has gone down but the price of using electricity in my house has gone up, up, up in the last few months. I almost choked when I opened the last bill.

In an effort to do what we could to lower our usage, we checked doors, windows, and filters.

Oops! I realized that I had forgotten to change the air filter . . . for what looked like a very long time.

The filter was so full of gunk that I think I could've made a furry blanket with all of the fuzz.

Have you ever checked your symptoms on a certain medical website and suddenly concluded that you were dying? As soon as I saw that nasty filter, I immediately wondered if I had asthma . . . or emphysema . . . or I don't know what! How could I be healthy if I had been breathing unfiltered air?!

Just as our houses' air conditioning and heating units work best when we replace old filters with fresh, clean ones every few months, we need to clean out the gunk in our own hearts and minds.

Many of us make the same mistake I did with the filters. We ignore the problem. We pretend we have no filth to clean out.

Unfortunately, the Bible says, "If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth." 1 John‬ ‭1‬:‭8‬ (NLT)

In other words, we can pretend all we want, but it doesn't mean the gunk in our lives isn't there.

Don't lose hope, though. The next verse says, "But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness." 1 John‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬ (NLT)

Changing an air filter (without bending a nail into a painful position) is a dreaded task.

Being cleansed of wickedness doesn't have to be. God does all the work.

All we have to do is humble ourselves before Him and confess our sins. The effect is better than breathing fresh air. It's fresh air for the soul.