Yesterday my foster-daughter got a hold of my iPod which I had carelessly left on the floor in my home office. She was having a rather exciting time sitting on the floor and lifting up the iPod and pulling on the headphone cords. I began to notice her activity, and as I was about to take it from her, I hesitated. Knowing she would not willingly give up her prize, I had to give her something in exchange for the iPod. Scanning the room I selected … my sock. I jiggled the sock in front of her face long enough for her to be distracted; she joyfully took the bait (er, I mean sock) and I easily reclaimed my iPod.

This incident reminded me about sin, because I could not help but think about how I exchange “spiritual” iPod’s for “spiritual” socks. Let me explain.

My sin drives a wedge between me and God (Isaiah 59:2). When I sin, I am committing idolatry: I am acknowledging that something is more important to me than Yeshua. When I sin, it means more to me to be selfish, untruthful, arrogant, lustful, self-centered (insert your favorite sin here) than it is to be in the presence of the Lord. Now of course when I (or you!) sin, I don’t think that way. But this is what sin does. We convince ourselves that the sin is more valuable than the presence of the Lord. We convince ourselves that the smelly sock is more valuable than the iPod. And we may be “happy” with the sock, but in the end we traded away something very valuable for something that is not. So it is with our sin.

Repentance is a key component of our lives in Yeshua. We are encouraged to repent so that our sins may be blotted out (Acts 3:19) and that refreshing times may come from the Lord (Acts 3:20). Repentance is not something we just teach or discuss; it is something we must do and do frequently.

Won’t you take a moment to allow the Spirit of the Lord to search your heart and bring you to repentance? May the Lord show you the smelly socks in your life, as he molds you into the image of Yeshua (2 Corinthians 3:18).