Sickness

This weekend, my oldest and youngest are battling a tummy flu. Alina (4 years) is throwing up pretty regularly and the baby (Judah) has had gut wrenching tummy aches causing him to writhe and scream quite a bit. And the strange thing that occurs to me? (thanks, God, some sense of humor!) Alina's puke is not so gross!! Ok just go with me on this one.

Something about caring for sick people is different than seeing the byproduct of illness apart from the one who is sick. If you simply step in a pile of throw-up, you are disgusted. If you see a child or person you love who is throwing up its different. You aren't concerned with the smell or sight of what's happening, you are drawn to how you can help, what can you do to make them feel better? Do you want something to drink? Can i get you a fresh t-shirt? Let me wash that.

It occurs to me in this that God feels similarly about us. Picture our sins - even the "big bad" ones as vomit. God is disgusted by homosexuality, murder, lying, even leaving out the truth. God thinks it looks and smells nasty and wants nothing to do with it. But when he looks at us, sick with those very things, those are no longer his concern. He is no longer caught up in how he feels about it, but simply how He can love on us, how He can make us feel better.

I've heard all kinds of analogies about sin but I think this is the simplest way to put it. Its not that we like puke, its that we love the person who is puking.