Today is National Tooth Fairy Day, a day to recognize dental health in children and a way to celebrate the kids who are losing their baby teeth.
“In the mid-1920s, fairies were used for all sorts of health education, from bath fairies to fresh air fairies as a way to get kids to remember to eat their vegetables, wash behind their ears and get a good night’s rest. Like toothpaste today advertises fruity flavors and sparkles to get kids excited to brush their teeth, in 1925, it was probably quite a bit more difficult considering the pastes were mostly peroxide and baking soda. One advertisement was for a Fairy Wand Tooth Whitener. This product promised to brush away cigarette and coffee stains. The ad was aimed at both children and adults, we hope!”1
The little kids on my bus are so excited to get on and show me that they have either lost a tooth or their teeth are getting wiggly. I’ve looked in the mouths of so many kids over the last several years that I ought to have a DDS degree!
I remember putting my teeth under the pillow as a child and finding some money there the next day. I ask the kids on the bus if they do that with their teeth and surprisingly few kids still do it. They are just excited to take the tooth home and show their parents. If they lose the tooth at school, they are given a little plastic container necklace shaped like a tooth. The tooth goes inside for safe keeping until they get home.
What happens if you lost a tooth in the Bible? As the Lord was giving the laws that would govern man’s relationship with his fellow man, Exodus 21:26-27 says, “And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his
eye’s sake. (27) And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake.” If you knocked out their tooth, they had to be released from servitude.
Alright, are you ready for the transition into the spiritual application? You’re either going to like it or think it is corny but here it is anyway. The TOOTH shall set you free! Imagine getting so angry that you slugged your servant in the mouth. As they spit out a bit of blood, they see a tooth laying on the ground. With a smile, they pick it up and say, “I’m outta here! I’m free and it only cost me my first molar!” The tooth made them free.
In John 8:31-32, we read, “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; (32) And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
We needed the truth of the Gospel to set us free from the bondage of unbelief and the condemnation that was attached to our account. The truth was that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again. We are to “repent and believe the Gospel” if we are to be free from that bondage. The truth made us free.
As Christians, we study God’s Word and know the truth of Scripture. We “continue” or abide in the Word, making it something we not only know but live. In so doing, we are made free from the entrapments of sin that would destroy our testimony and lives. Psalms 119:11 says, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” The truth made us free.
Our freedom is gained not in a lost tooth but in found truth. John 17:17 leaves us today with these important words. “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”
1https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-day/national-tooth-fairy-day-february-28
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