Hello ,
In The New Yorker, (5/15/95) Sara Mosle recounts that on March 18, 1937, a spark ignited a cloud of natural gas that had accumulated in the basement of the London, Texas, school. The blast killed 293 people, most of them children.
The explosion happened because the local school board wanted to cut heating costs. Natural gas, the by-product of petroleum extraction, was siphoned from a neighboring oil company's pipeline to fuel the building's furnace free of charge.
London never recovered from the blast that turned the phrase "boom town" into a bitter joke. The one positive effect of this disastrous event was government regulation requiring companies to add an odor-ant to natural gas. The distinctive aroma is now so familiar that we often forget natural gas is naturally
odorless.
There is a tendency these days to classify all feelings of guilt as hazardous to our self-esteem. In reality, guilt can be valuable, an "odor-ant" (of sorts,) that warns us of danger.
As valuable as "guilt" can be to us though, it can never have the power to save us. God's word is clear:
"Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment." Psalm
51:2-4
Guilt can help us identify that spiritual "danger" is near, but only our Creator can bring cleansing.
Have a great day and God bless!
Pastor Mike / The Open Word
