Meet George.  One night, after cooking supper, instead of turning off the gas stove, he just blew out the flames.  A fool?  Surely!

But wait!  Later in the night, George woke, choking from the fumes.  Instead of opening the window and turning off the gas, he got out a bottle of perfume and sprayed himself and the room.

Your estimation of his being a fool would be confirmed.  Of course, the foolish idea of trying to cover the smell and overcome the poison of the gas with perfume wouldn’t work, and the next day a corpse would prove the hopelessness of the effort.

We would be justified in calling George a fool.

Before we condemn the man as a complete fool, however, we should examine some of our own reactions.

Firstly – to those who do not know Christ as Lord and Saviour: to those who have not been adopted into the family of the living God.

Do you try to COVER YOUR SIN with FOOLISH EXCUSES?
Do you call SIN by another name?
Do you excuse it by saying “I’m no worse than anyone else!”?
Do you say it is only a “little” lie, or a “white” lie?
Do you ever get angry? hate? envy? covet? show malice?
Does “Everyone does it!” make it appear right?
Do you steal someone’s reputation by gossiping?
Do you retaliate, saying “he deserved it anyway”?
Do you dodge paying taxes?
Do you steal goods or time from your employer?

The list of ways to try to “cover” your sin is endless.
True, you might fool some PEOPLE but you can NEVER fool GOD.

Trying to COVER our SIN
works just as effectively as the perfume on the gas. 
Sometimes, it just might succeed in a “cover up” –
that is, enough perfume might cover the smell of the gas 
but the EFFECT will be the same. 
Covered-over sin is still sin.  Nothing can be hidden from God. 

Sin is sin, is sin, is sin, is sin . . . called by any other name, it is still SIN!
The EFFECT of sin – the RESULT of sin – NEVER varies.

God says EVERYONE is a sinner [Romans 3:23]
and that there is NO WAY we can free ourselves of that sin. 
God says no sin can enter His presence. 
We CANNOT be saved by our good works  [Ephesians 2:8-9]

GOOD NEWS!
WE can do NOTHING to make ourselves acceptable to God
BUT  . . . JESUS has ALREADY DONE EVERYTHING.

“Christ died for our sins . . . and He was buried . . .
and He rose again the third day” 
1 Corinthians 15:3

Jesus Himself said
“I AM THE WAY, the Truth and the Life.
NO ONE comes to the Father EXCEPT BY ME” 
John 14:6

He who believes on the Son has everlasting life.
He who does not believe the Son shall not see life;
but the wrath of God abides on him. 
John 3:36

Of course, for those who have been adopted into the family of God through faith in Christ, there IS a covering for sin.

The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin [1 John 1:7] – once we have agreed with God about that sin and repented of it.

If we confess our sin, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sin
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 
1 John 1:9

However, we Christians can also be fools as was George.  Some Christians try to make excuses for sinful behaviour. Some Christians try to make themselves look good (smell sweetly) when their hearts are far from pure.

“Search me O Lord and know my heart;
try me and know my thoughts;
and see if there is any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.” 
Psalm 139:23-24