A LITTLE THOUGHT FROM A TOOTH

A couple of weeks ago a large lump appeared on my gum.  Despite various treatments there was no sign of it disappearing.  In fact, when it appeared to be getting larger I knew it was time for a visit to the dentist.  It was something I had never experienced before and so there were a few nerves and even a few fears.  I just prayed that it would be nothing serious.  I was told by the dentist that the nerve of the tooth was dead and the lump was as a result of the "not so nice stuff" left behind.  And so a procedure was started to sort it all out and try to save the tooth.  

It got me thinking that what the dentist was trying to save was in fact dead.  I'm not a dentist and technically I may be wrong on some of these issues, but as I understood it, the nerve which runs through the tooth is dead.  On the outside it looks just like all of the other teeth, but inside, the very nerve of the tooth is dead and because of that there was swelling, pain and a procedure needed to clean it out.

Isn't that just like our lives and the lives of the children in Kenya and Uganda?  On the outside we might look great.  Children may look cute and may look as if all is ok....but inside they are spiritually dead.  The sin needs cleaned out.  There are those, even adults, who look like Christians, talk like Christians and go to the places Christians go....but sometimes their words and actions and life suggest differently. 

The dentist can only clean out the tooth and save the outward appearance, but inside the tooth will always be dead.  It is too late for it now.  The nerve will never live again.  Thank God that He can not only clean up the outward appearance but He can change the inward and give new life. 

This is our prayer for the boy and girls and indeed their families.  Pray for salvation.