Yesterday, our daughter Miranda showed us her fingernail. It was all puffed up and red. What she has is an ingrown fingernail and believe you me those things are downright painful.

I told her she’d need to cut it out and I volunteered to do it for her. She didn’t want anything to do with that. Her mom told her to put a band-aid on it. She said there has been times she’d done so and it simply went away. To tell you the truth I think it’s to far gone to do that.

I don’t believe she can cover this one up and one day it’s gone. It’s red, swollen and infected! Sin is like that when we hang on to it. It infects our minds, bodies and soul. It affects the way we think, talk, and treat others. Sin will absolutely destroy our relationship with the Lord! You can’t put a band-aid on sin and expect it to go away. You’ve got to allow the good Lord to cut it out! Is it painful to do so? Yes! But the results are out of this world!

I John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness!”

Over the past few weeks I’ve been at camp. I’ve had my time with the Lord daily but to tell you the truth I felt I needed to take a break from writing the daily devotionals. Well, I’m back now and I hope our Lord continues to use the devotionals to inspire and convict!

Have you ever looked at a person and thought, “They’ll never make it to heaven!” Well, they may be thinking the same thing about you! Someone has written a clever little poem that says:

When you get to heaven, you will likely view, many folk there who’ll be shocked like you. But don’t act surprised, or even show a care, for they might be a little shocked to see you there.

Our churches are filled with people who have heard the Word of God preached, they’ve walked the aisle and nodded their heads accepting Jesus but it was not the hearing of faith. The Bible says we are to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith!

Ask yourself, “Do I truly know the Lord, or am I simply a church member or professing Christian?”