Help Wanted

At this point, Piper thinks the word "no" is the most hysterical thing she has ever heard.  She already knows how to play innocent when you have caught her with something she shouldn't have, and when she doesn't get her way...oh, she will tell you about it!  She's basically a miniature teenager. 

Our youngest, Piper, has just turned ten months old.  Obviously it's time for her to grow up.  So, she has taken it upon herself to become a more independent woman.  She's feeding herself, pulling up on everything, climbing steps, walking alongside the furniture, getting into the cupboards... she's busy!  She has already begun to dip her toe into the, "I do it" phase of life.  

Lately, it's been a battle of wills when it comes to sleep.  Thankfully, past experience has taught us that this is just a phase, this too shall pass.  But, since kissing her pacifier goodbye, there is no more "going gentle into that goodnight".  Rather, it's a big fat hairy fit each time we darken the doorway of her bedroom.  Her voice has even begun to sound hoarse from a week's worth of daily tantrums over this matter.
  
It turns out that this little person already believes that she knows best.  She can do whatever she wants, whenever she wants.  She prefers doing things her own way, without my help.  And she certainly doesn't need me to tell her when it's time to go to bed!
  
Unfortunately, this way of thinking is not a phase.  It's a sin.  Yep, my baby is a sinner already...just like her mama.  She was born with my broken DNA, a genetic disorder that's been passed down through each generation since Adam and Eve.  
They were the first to contract this illness.  The symptoms vary but the prognosis is always the same: DEATH.  

Within the past 2000 years or so, a cure has been discovered.  It has saved millions of people.  Yet, there are millions more who have yet to receive treatment.  Some have even denied treatment!  Instead they too think that they can handle this disease without medical intervention.  They don't need help.   

Sin is like cancer.  It can run rampant for a long time before being detected, and it is capable of completely ravaging the body.   Nobody encounters cancer and believes that it will go away on it's own.  No one has ever concluded that simply being a good person will cause the cancer to go into remission.  Instead they take action, they seek a cure.  
But unlike cancer, sin is often ignored.  Why?  Because, just like Piper, we don't want help.  We would rather have our own way.  If treatment means that we have to obey certain commands, forget about it.  A little pain makes you stronger.  If healing means forfeiting the right to do things our way, never mind.  We'll just live with the sin.  If being cured means that we must live under the authority of God, no way.  We would rather die.  

I bet if people really thought of sin like cancer, we wouldn't be so reluctant to accepted help.  We would run to be healed by our great Physician.  Willing to undergo any treatment He prescribed regardless the side effects.  We would realize that sin is vicious, lethal even.  We wouldn't let it fester before seeking help.  We would want Christ to cure us.  

They only thing we can really do all by ourselves is ask for forgiveness.  From that point on, we become team players.  Independence is no longer recommended, it's bad for your health.