Sandy and I enjoy watching Kitchen Nightmares every once in a while on TV. It’s a show in which Gordon Ramsey, a top chef in the culinary world, comes to the aid of a failing restaurant and tries to turn them around. He ends up doing a complete makeover of the entire restaurant from its interior design, to its cooking techniques, its menu, and even the way they do business.
But before he can do that, he often has to convince the owner that there is a real problem, because many times they’re in denial. They’re just looking for a quick fix, thinking that a small adjustment will solve their problem. Well, Ramsey has to show them that they need a complete makeover if their restaurant is going to survive.
On one occasion, he used a black light to show the owner just how filthy his restaurant was. A black light causes body secretions to glow brightly, and when he brought it into one of the bathrooms, all four walls, the floor and even the ceiling were glowing. It was gross, but it convinced the owner that he had a real problem.
That’s what the law does. It shows us that we have a real problem, but we can’t use it to clean up the problem. Gordon Ramsey didn’t start scrubbing that bathroom with his black light. No! He brought in professional cleaners to clean that restaurant from top to bottom.
In the same way we cannot use the law (or a list of principles) to clean up our lives. We need to invite Christ into our lives do it for us. We need to trust Christ to do a complete makeover on us. That’s why He came to this earth. That’s why He died on a cross for our sins. & That’s why He rose again. When we couldn’t save ourselves, Someone greater than any Gordon Ramsey came to turn us around. God Himself came to completely make us over from the inside out.