CLEOEJACKSONIII.COM
  • My Home Page
  • My Life and Ministry
  • My Ongoing Thoughts
  • My Favorite Bible Verses
  • My Favorite Stories
  • My Favorite Jokes
  • My Favorite Quotations
  • My Favorite Web Links
  • My Contact Info
"Helping Others Communicate"

BRIGHTEN UP!

1/27/2023

 
It is a great mystery that I will admit that I cannot completely figure out.  Nevertheless, I am here to attest to the validity of it all.  Inextricably, my toothbrush is getting darker by the day while my teeth are getting whiter in the process!

It all happened this way.  I decided I would seek to whiten my teeth.  While my dentist and his oral hygienist recently gave me a clean bill of health, I was not satisfied with the color of my teeth.  So, I set about to whiten them.

As I perused the toothpaste aisle and its myriad selection of products at the local supercenter, I eventually settled on a given brand – not so much because of the package as much as because of the sheer frustration I felt in the face of so many options.

Imagine my surprise when I got home and squeezed out my first brush full of paste only to discover that it was black!  Yes, black!  I freaked!  What was this?!  I turned over the tube and quickly found the answer.  It said that it was the one whitening toothpaste with the key ingredient of... you guessed it - charcoal!  I had honestly purchased it unaware that it touted the inclusion of this miraculous key ingredient!

But, having plopped down over four dollars for the tube, I decided that I simply had too much invested to back out now!  Nervously, I squeezed the tube and applied the black blob to my toothbrush.  Thereafter, I was taken aback when a large mass of black foam accumulated in my mouth.  I was further mortified when I spit it out and the sink was filled with utter blackness, the likes of which had not been seen since Dante described the inner linings of Purgatory itself!

And yet, surprisingly, when I had finished rinsing, the black mass was gone from my mouth in general, and from my teeth in particular, none of which were the worse for the experience.  So I kept on using the stuff.

And now, a week later, my teeth are honestly whiter.  Much whiter!  Whatever else charcoal does, I can attest that it definitely whitens teeth.

But
caveat emptor! ("Let the buyer beware!")  For I have discovered that it does one other thing as well.  It darkens one’s toothbrush!  Not that the toothbrush itself turns totally black.  It doesn’t.  But there on the head, where the bristles are attached, down in those incredibly small holes, one can clearly see the blackness growing with each application of charcoal toothpaste.

At first, I was quite alarmed at this unforeseen side effect.  I thought it must be mold or something.  But I soon realized that in the process of applying the charcoal to my teeth, I was also applying it to my toothbrush.  Somehow, in the process, my teeth were getting whiter, but my brush was getting darker.
 
The great irony is that the exact opposite of this had been true before the process began.  Somehow, along the way, my pearly white toothbrush was getting darker; yet all the while, my stained teeth were getting whiter!  It was as if each one took on the characteristics of the other.  The result was a transfer of properties in that each one took on the properties of the other.

As I have reflected on this, I have been reminded of what the Bible has to say in the Apostle Paul’s Second Letter to the Christians at Corinth (chapter 5, verse 21):  “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

The Amplified Bible translates this verse this way:  “He made Christ who knew no sin to [judicially] be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we would become the righteousness of God [that is, we would be made acceptable to Him and placed in a right relationship with Him by His gracious lovingkindness].”

In this one single verse, we clearly see the Divine transfer of properties between the holy and righteous and unblemished Son of God and you and I, the imperfect human beings originally created in His image but now plagued by the discoloring stain of sin!

He took upon us the qualities and results of our darkness in order that our crimson souls might become white as snow, and that our sin-stained souls might be made clean and unblemished in His sight!

The result, as planned all along by God, is that the He Who was without sin, Jesus Christ, became sin in order that we who were without righteousness might become the righteousness demanded by God!

I, for one, will gladly embrace a stained toothbrush if it will give me whiter teeth.  More to the point, I will gladly embrace the Only Begotten Son of God because He alone has taken upon Him my sin and given me eternal life in exchange!

What about you?  Do you desire whiter teeth?  As paradoxical as it sounds, I highly recommend charcoal black toothpaste.  It really does clean one’s stained teeth.
​
Do you desire a soul that is whiter than snow?  Then I highly recommend the Only Begotten Son of God.  He really does deliver on His promise to cleanse any soul which is stained!

SCRIPTURE SOURCES:  https://biblehub.com/2_corinthians/5-21.htm.

Comments are closed.

    Cleo E. Jackson, III

    Occasionally I will add
    a few thoughts to my blog. If you find them inspirational, I will be
    honored.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010

    Categories

    All