Stained!… and ruined!?

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain;
He washed me white as snow.

Listening to the Christian radio, I heard Chuck Swindol recite those words this morning, which got me thinking…..

…. about washing!!

I see a beautiful, favourite white garment that was worn out to dinner, and the unbelievable happens. You spill a glass of red wine all over it. It seems ruined, but when you get home, you soak it to try and get the stain out.

The next morning you find that most of the stain has gone, but you are still left with a big pink mark. Nothing you try seems to move it.

How like our hearts that is. We will try all we can to be good and do the right thing, but nothing can get that stain out of our hearts.

“But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” (Isaiah 64:6, NLT)

So what hope do we have?

As David said:

5 “For I was born a sinner—
yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
6 But you desire honesty from the womb,
teaching me wisdom even there.

7 “Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Oh, give me back my joy again;
you have broken me—
now let me rejoice.
9 Don’t keep looking at my sins.
Remove the stain of my guilt.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.”
(Psalm 51, NLT)

Our hope is in Jesus! As it says in Romans 3 (NLT) ……

21 “But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. 22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

23 “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.”

What a gracious God we have!!!!

~ by jeanetteb1 on February 18, 2007.