Pearly Whites

You may have heard someone declare, “It’s either black or white! There’s no gray area!”

Have you ever had your chimney cleaned? The flue can get pretty sooty and that can be dangerous. It won’t work well or be safe in a dirty condition with creosote build-up. When it gets to that point, it’s time to call in an expert to take care of it properly and make it clean and functional again.

Sometimes we feel drab and need whitening and cleaning in our lives to make us functional and not in danger of "catching fire" and doing some harm to ourselves or others.

I just came from getting my teeth whitened. It was my first time and a quick process with a great system I discovered nearby (and reasonable too). Here are my before and after pictures – a difference of about 6-7 shades in just 15 minutes.

As I was thinking about having a whiter smile, I thought about some of the verses below relating to our sins becoming white as God grants us forgiveness. He covers them up with the righteousness of Christ, who paid the price for our sin and dirt and mess. They are gone forever. The stains are removed once and for all through his grace.

With all the stuff we do and think and that comes our way in life, we can get really stained and dirty. We need to go before the Father, confess our sins before him, and ask him to make us clean – inside and out – to take the stains of the world, the flesh and the devil away from us.

"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. – Isaiah 1:18, NIV

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! – John 1:29, NKJV

And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, "they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. – Revelation 7:15, NIV

For details on the teeth whitening company I used, visit: http://www.whitesmileusa.com for a location near you.