Getting Rid of the Bad Taste

Hard boiled eggs are SOOO good! Every year at Easter, I eat 10-12 hard boiled eggs and reflect upon how much I like to eat them. Then for whatever reason, I NEVER make them the rest of the year until next Easter rolls around.

Since I only eat hard-boiled eggs once a year, I seem to forget the only thing I REALLY don't like about hard-boiled eggs.....the after taste. You know that horrible odor that becomes associated with your mouth after eating an egg?? YEAH...that one. And the worst thing is, no matter what you do, you can't get rid of that odor. Brush your teeth and chew gum? Minty for a minute, but then it's all ruined with just one burp....

YES this may sound a little disgusting BUT if you have EVER had a hard-boiled egg, you know exactly what I'm talking about. The taste the egg leaves behind sticks with you WELL after eating it.

Life can sometimes be very much like a hard boiled egg.

Sometimes we get in an argument or disagreement with someone. Instead of moving past the conflict, we continue to stew in. The yelling or word exchange may be over, but our negative feelings towards what happened linger on. Eventually the conflict becomes bigger than the relationship we have with that person.

While trying to figure out what our best future course of action is, I look to the Scriptures for guidance. One of the best stories I can think of is Jacob and Esau. The short of the story is they are twin brothers. Esau by general rule or law of the time because he is the oldest, would receive the entire inheritance from his parents. Well that idea didn't work out too well for Jacob. So Jacob tricked Esau and stole his entire inheritance. Esau would receive nothing. In fear for his life, Jacob fled. Imagine the bad taste left in Esau's mouth?!? His own brother betraying him to such a DEEP extent. One day, Jacob decides to return home. This means seeing Esau again. Here is the Bible verses from Genesis 33 with Esau's reaction- ⁴ But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept. 

Imagine all the different ways that story COULD have ended. Esau had every right to be angry or vengeful towards Jacob. He could have punched him square in the nose and no one would have probably blamed him. BUT, instead Esau chose love and forgiveness.

This is the challenge that all of us face. We know for sure that bad things will happen to us in this world. Relationships with people will become strained and broken. But ultimately we don't have any control over how other people act. We can't stop people from being anger or spiteful. What we DO have control over is how WE respond to them. Esau had a choice, and he choice forgiveness and love. 

So this year, whether you like hard-boiled eggs or NOT, get that bad taste of past hurt out of your mouth. Easter is a week where we celebrate Christ forgiving ALL our sins...not just some of them. Let's try doing our best to forgive others too- even if the forgiveness is more important for us than them!