One of my favorite authors is Max Lucado. His church, Oak Hills Church of Christ, is just a few minutes down the hill from our new home in San Antonio.

I was struck by a story Max recounted in his book, Just like Jesus. He said this:

“When my daughter Jenna was toddler, I used to take her to a park not far from our apartment. One day as she was playing in a sandbox, an ice-cream salesman approached us. I purchased her a treat, and when I turned to give it to her, I saw her mouth was full of sand. Where I intended to put a delicacy, she had put dirt. Did I love her with dirt in her mouth? Absolutely. Was she any less my daughter with dirt in her mouth? Of course not. Was I going to allow her to keep the dirt in her mouth? No way. I loved her right where she was, but I refused to leave her there. I carried her over to the water fountain and washed out her mouth. Why? Because I love her.”

Max goes on to draw the analogy with God.

“God holds us over the fountain. ‘Spit out the dirt, honey,” our Father urges. ‘I’ve got something better for you.’ And so he cleanses us of filth: immorality, dishonesty, prejudice, bitterness, greed. We don’t enjoy the cleansing; sometimes we even opt for the dirt over the ice cream. ‘I can eat dirt if I want to!’ we put and proclaim. Which is true – we can. But if we do, the loss is ours. God has a better offer. He wants us to be just like Jesus.”

This story hit me right between the eyes. It reminded me how easy it is to be foolish… to make stupid choices…to rebel against God’s ways just because “I want what I want when I want it.”

The cold hard truth is that, at some point in time, all of us have preferred to eat dirt more than ice cream.

The prophet Isaiah said it best, “All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own (Isaiah 53:6).” Robert Robinson described it this way in the 18^th century hymn he wrote, Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing: “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.” Even Jesus affirmed that “men love darkness more than light.”

If you are like me, you may have taken a wrong turn on your journey, but by God’s grace have gotten back on God’s path of right thinking, right believing and right living. That turning back is called repentance, and it’s not something we generate on our own power. Repentance is a gift of God. And it’s a gift we should ask for, not just for ourselves, but for family and friends we love.

You may have a loved one who at this very moment is eating dirt — living contrary to God’s Word and God’s ways. It might be a daughter or a son. A sister or brother. A parent or other relative. Maybe it’s your roommate, your coworker, or even a friend from church. They may have been eating dirt for so long that they’ve ceased to realize it’s dirt they’re consuming. Others may have persuaded them that it’s not dirt they’re eating, and it’s perfectly acceptable to put this filth into their bodies. Some may have convinced them that God even made them to eat dirt.

It’s amazing that society has made managed to dupe men and women into thinking something bad is good. It’s called “drinking the Kool-Aid.” And it might as well be laced with cyanide, because wrong belief can be deadly.

Isaiah 5:20 offers this sober warning: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil.”

Those of us who have tasted the ice cream of God’s grace, mercy and forgiveness and refuse to go back to the dirt now have a holy responsibility to pray for those still who need a spiritual palate cleansing. And, as unpleasant as it is, we also need to speak the truth in love to these people and warn them of the dangers of eating dirt. The Apostle Peter gave us a pretty succinct message to use in Acts 8:22 – “Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you.”

James, the brother of Jesus, said, “if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins (James 5:19-20).”

The good news is that God answers prayer. He wants us and our loved ones to repent, to turn from selfishness and sin and follow Him in loving obedience. When we repent, He is there to receive us with open arms and clean us up. Consider the words of Psalm 103:8-14: “The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust.”

We may be made of dust, but that doesn’t mean it’s okay to eat dust. We are to “taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8).” Let us feast on the ice cream of God’s blessings, so beautifully provided in the saving love of Jesus. When we do, we’ll never ever want to go back to the dirt again.