They were pretty white.
At least, I had been to the dentist, had my teeth cleaned, and gotten their whitening strips.
Everyone seems to have whiter teeth now than when I was growing up. We went to the dentist once a year and got a cleaning and checkup for cavities.
There were no whitening toothpastes; just cavity prevention.
There were no whitening strips from the toothpaste manufacturers.
We just worried if we had some stray spinach or lettuce stuck in our braces!
With filters and photo editing now, I’m pretty sure you can “whiten” your teeth in pictures you put online. Maybe that’s why teeth online sometimes stand out as snow white.
Anyway, I was doing what I could, and getting pretty good results, when I messed up. I had to take some medicine and popped the two pills in my mouth. Then, not before I took the pills, I went to get a glass of water. I got detained, and it took a little longer to get the glass and water and drink it.
I went back to getting ready (hair, makeup, etc.) and looked in the mirror.
My teeth were bright yellow — butter yellow!
The pills had dissolved in my mouth before I got a chance to swallow them and lo, and behold, my white teeth looked horrible! They looked like I never brushed them before.
“Gary, come look at this!” I called. He was shocked, too.
I started brushing my teeth. The toothbrush turned yellow. I spit out yellow. I rinsed and brushed again. Same results. After repeatedly brushing my teeth and rinsing and spitting, I finally looked somewhat presentable.
I bought some of the whitening strips.
I hadn’t used this type before, but it seemed simple enough. I figured out which was the gooey side and stuck them on my upper and lower yellow teeth. I left them on longer than the recommended time, since I had such a dire case of stained teeth.
Sure enough, when I took the strips off, brushed my teeth again, and spit — the yellow was gone!
I was so glad! It was so embarrassing to try to hide my teeth with my lips and not smile or look like yellow tooth beaver!
But what about the dark stains of sin that we all have and carry as a burden in our lives?
There is an answer.
God says in Isaiah 1:18: “Come now, and let’s reason together, says Yahweh: Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.“
Wouldn’t you like to sparkle spiritually, having been cleansed by the blood of Jesus?
