As I've mentioned before, my husband and I have five children. During their growing up years, I did hundreds, if not thousands, of loads of laundry. Our faithful washing machine chugged away every day. Occasionally, I would encounter stains that needed extra care. I would pretreat them with a spray, sometimes soaking them in cold water before tossing the garment into the washer. Grass stains were especially stubborn to get out and required me to scrub them with a bar of soap.
Our Father in Heaven has provided us with a way to pretreat the stains of our life before we meet Him. This process is called repentance. Like washing away stubborn grass strains, repenting requires hard work. I never minded the work needed to remove the stains that came from my children's play and took satisfaction in a basket of clean and neatly folded clothes. However, I have a more difficult time in removing the stains caused by my sins and weaknesses. Too frequently, pride stands in my way. I resist doing the work necessary to make repentance possible. It means humbling myself and giving the power to change me over to the Lord. If only He would spray me with an elixir to magically wipe away the dirt and soil of my life. And then I realized He has--if I but choose to take advantage of it.
So, for today, I am grateful for washing machines. I am always grateful for the Lord's power to make me spotless before Him.
I'm grateful for my washing machine, too. But I don't think it's grateful for me!
ReplyDeleteIt is true that through His stripes, we are healed. How is it done? I marvel. I know that I am not grateful enough. Too often I complain about the scrubbing that life gives me. It's as if I'm a rouge pair of pants that fold themselves over, hiding their stains.