On Automatic Bathroom Air Fresheners

They hate me. I've decided that.

Every time I walk in the bathroom at church, as soon as I walk around the corner, I get blasted by one of those automatic air fresheners. It's infuriating.

Today, I even tried to fake it out. I thought that maybe it was the lights that caused the thing to shoot super-concentrated-smell-good-scentiness into the air. So I flipped on the lights, waited a second, then walked around the corner, only to be shot in the side of the head by the air freshener (whoever put it right at ear-level is beyond me....).

So, if not light activated, maybe it's motion activated. So, I went back outside, came back in, and stuck my arm around the corner, waving it like crazy. Nothing. So I figured I was safe. Bad assumption. I rounded the corner and got my second dose of "essence of springtime" or whatever the scent is called.

Air fresheners are stupid. OK, I'm biased because of this vendetta that a certain air freshener has taken out on me. However, I still think they're a waste of money, energy, and space.

Why? They're nothing but a cover up. They're shady. It's not like they truly get rid of odor. They just disguise it. They cover it up with overly powerful not-so-terrible smells and fool you into thinking the foul odors are gone. They trick you. The odor of Billy-Bob's handiwork is still in the air, you just have been duped by this air freshener into believing that it's gone.

Crafty little devils.

However, they're a lot like us. When we sin, we often try to simply cover it up rather than addressing the sin itself. How? We often cover up our sin by trying to replace it with good deeds. For instance, if I slipped up and cussed this morning, I would give a few extra encouraging words throughout the day to try and make up for it. Or if I was extra sinful today, I'd pray an extra-long blessing to counteract my disobedience.

But it's just a mask. My sin is still there. Good deeds, hard work, extra prayer time, or super-spiritual experiences can never truly rid our hearts of sin. It's still there, just shrouded in a nice-smelling mist of spirituality.

The only thing that can rid our hearts of sin is repentance through Jesus Christ. Jesus forgives us of our sins and offers us freedom from them. This freedom is not a cover up. Romans 8 says that the Spirit of Christ "puts to death the misdeeds of the body" so that we can live in freedom (Rom. 8:13). Our sins are no longer there. They're not just scented over by good feelings. They're truly gone. Praise be to God!

So next time you get sprayed by an air freshener (grrr........), think about your heart. Have you truly been freed from your sin, or are you still holding on, refusing to repent and truly get rid of the root of your problem?

Don't mask your sin. It'll still be there, and it will eventually continue to reek, no matter how much you try to cover it up. Not to mention, God says your good deeds appear like Billy-Bob's 'handiwork" to him anyway.

When I stand before God, I don't want him to be holding his nose. Do you?