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Ephesians 1:7 – In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace. (NIV)
I was late doing my spring cleaning, and it bothered me, so I decided to give it a try, and gathered the necessary tools. I prayed for my hurting shoulders, wrists, and back to co-operate with me to wash at least the outside windows that I can reach from my balcony. It was a beautiful summer morning to enjoy life and living and even the task before me.
I stopped to watch the city before me and all the life in it. No one noticed me, but why should anyone watch me anyway? I smiled, thinking how I don't notice many around me, but just go on my own way.
I took a pail full of soapy water, and with washcloth in hand, I reached to the first window, knowing that I couldn't get all the way to the top frame. That is how it has been for years now. It's too high and too dangerous for this old one to climb up and give it a scrub. I got the other one done and the door as well, but I was still looking up at those narrow upper windows left undone. I had to be pleased with what I did get done, but still, I regretted what I could not do myself.
My thinking went to spiritual spring cleaning and how I might not reach all the dirty spots to clean.
Isaiah 64:6 – All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like a wind our sins sweep us away. (NIV)
None of us is perfect, and none of us is fully aware of all the ways that we fall short of God's glory, not knowing the presence of all our sins. How horrible to leave the job unfinished, unknowingly. Too often, we hold out on God. There are areas of our lives that we don't want to surrender to His lordship. We fail to be obedient in all things, often without realizing it. But when our soul cleanup really becomes a bother to us, it leads us to plead for Jesus to forgive the sins that bind us, that need "scrubbing" before the all-knowing God, Who sees us as we are. To give all is the way to follow Jesus. Jesus sees all the specks and misses no spots. It is His holy blood that cleanses all the grime and dirt of sin in us that we are not able to. The Lord delights in our sincere prayer to be forgiven. When we are cleansed from all our iniquities, we can look at ourselves and the world before us with new eyes — with hope and a future —with the love of God in our hearts to share!
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You that upon our true confession, in Your name, You grant us remission of our sin and give us new birth that comes from God. Thank You for healing our deep sin because of Your love for us. Thank You for guiding us to do the right thing. In Your name, we pray. Amen.
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Thank you Kirsti.
Kirsti,
Good food for thought. There is power in the blood.
Thanks for taking time to remind us to do some cleaning.
Wonderful! I thought perhaps I was the only one who thinks that a lot of sin is I acknowledged for the simple reason that we aren’t aware of it in our lives. When I asked The Lord to show me my sin, I became so much more aware of my internal thinking that I was astonished, and immediately began to forgive others because I realized that they too are suffering from things that have not been revealed to them … perhaps because they don’t know enough to ask! There is so much that is hidden, but, as you say, thanks be to God, He sees it all, loves us anyway, and will strengthen us as we go. I think if we were aware of it all, we might collapse under the overwhelming realization of what sin really is and how it works against our desire to love Him and to to bring others to Him. We really are miserable in our sins … but lifting our hearts to Him and being willing to release or misery into His care somehow changes our tears into joy! Praise The Lord!
Dear Kristi,
Thank you for your devotional centering in:
It is His holy blood that cleanses all the grime and dirt of sin.
Keep writing.
I too can’t reach some window spots, but Jesus reaches every spot in ourselves with his cleansing blood.
For his sake, Amen.