My daughter had a toothache, and sure enough a quick investigation revealed that there was a large cavity in one of her molars.

A trip to the dental surgery was in order! The dentist cleaned out the cavity, flushing it with water and gouging it out with a pick-like instrument. But if she had left the treatment at that, Julia’s tooth would have soon filled with debris, causing further decay and pain.

Thankfully, the dentist filled the hole, before giving my daughter a fluoride treatment to “seal the deal” and strengthen them for the future.

Sin in our lives has a bad habit of making a hole in our hearts, which quickly becomes a reservoir for all sorts of rubbish and rottenness.

However just like the dentist, when Christ cleans out that hole, the treatment doesn’t stop there! He fills that hole in our lives with Himself, so that the decay of sin is no longer able to entrench itself there. And then He “seals the deal” with the Holy Spirit, strengthening us for the future.

 You’ll never think of the dentist in the same way again!

Janet Camilleri works as a copywriter at Front Page Web Writing, and loves writing so much she even does it in her spare time, when she blogs as the "Middle Aged Mama"