It Will Rub Off on You!

Bill Brinkworth

“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,” II Cor. 6:17

Little Seymour was dressed in the suit he had to wear for his uncle’s wedding. Being the ring-bearer, he had to wear what was picked out for him. In this case, it was an all-white suit, including suit coat, shirt, pants, socks, and even the shoes.

Like many six year-olds, he was quite squirmy. It was impossible for him to sit, or even stand still. Some part of him just had to wiggle or wander — all the time. Being unsupervised for just a couple seconds allowed the child the opportunity to sneak outside on the dreary, rainy day.

Partly out of instinct to be where he should not be, little Seymour found himself close to a very inviting puddle. The child’s inquisitiveness led him to investigate if the surrounding mud was “really the kind that is squishy and the kind you sink into?” An inspecting finger verified, “Yep, it was squishy.” Muddy shoes also proved the discovery.

His little mind continued to wonder, “Is the water deep enough to splash really good? Yep!” a now muddied coat and pants also gave him the answer, as they were now splattered with mud and water. Of course, the inevitable happened, and the wearer-of-white fell face first in the muddy puddle. He was no longer a clean member of the wedding party. In many places, it was now hard to determine the original color of his wedding clothes.

Sin is very much like the mud puddle the little boy investigated, and the child of God is very much like little Seymour. Once born-again, one has all their sins forgiven. He is spotless in God’s eyes. If the indwelling, convicting Holy Spirit is obeyed, the believer will have many of the sins he was involved in “cleaned up” in his life. He may not be perfect, but many of the things he used to do will no longer be a part of his life.

Honesty will replace a lying past. Normal conversation will no longer include filthy words that used to roll off one’s tongue. Reading filthy magazines will be replaced by reading the Word of God. Sunday’s no longer are spent guzzling beer with friends, and the believer is regularly found in a local church learning more about the things of God. The believer is a new creature in Christ, and much different than he was before.

However, a mistake can be made when the believer gets too close to sin. Maybe it was just “one puff” on a cigarette that God had helped him keep away from; maybe it was just a “little sip” of his friend’s beer; perhaps it was not turning the station on a program he knew he should not be watching; or perhaps it was his involvement in “just a little sin”, but soon the “cleaned up” Christian finds himself in a mud puddle of sin.

The only prevention from this happening in any believer’s life is to keep away from sin. Sin will rub off on you! No one is exempt! However, sin cannot rub off on you, if you are far away from it! Keep away from “mud puddles, Seymour”!

This article was featured in The Bible View #329.