ARE YOU A TAR BUCKET?

Last week I passed a construction company that was repairing a patch of road. The machines had done their levelling, and the final touch was a layer of tar on the affected spot. One man was pouring on the tar out of an old watering can. He was wearing gloves and the whole can was covered in tar. A vivid picture came to mind.

Is your life like a tar bucket? Do people need gloves to handle you because of all the filth they can see in your life? Are you known for your graciousness in Christ or for your acid tongue and wayward behaviour?

We were all tar buckets once, sinking hopelessly in the tar pit of sin. Oh, but thank God for Jesus! We saints have been rescued by His mighty hand and are now cleansed by His precious blood. I am no longer a tar bucket!

Once redeemed, however, it is possible to go back and get covered in tar once more so that no one can see the light of Christ shining in us (I'm talking about character here, this has nothing to do with getting to heaven). We can be so consumed by bitterness and unforgiveness – I could go on in an endless list of vices, that it consumes our whole life. One simple question to seriously ask yourself is, “Who am I when I’m alone?” Who are you when you are at home where there is no pastor or church member to see the way you behave? For me, I was the one who would scream people’s heads off at the slightest provocation. I have handed my temper to God now. (Of course, God still accepts us with all our vices, but shall we continue to sin that grace may abound?)So today, I ask you: do the members of your household know you as a tar bucket or as a beacon of Christ’s love? Over to you!