Heather came running into the kitchen saying, “I’m home, Mommy. When do we eat?”
“Soon, dear. Where have you been?” her mother asked as she turned to face a very dirty little girl.
“In the field playing with Barbie and some other kids,” answered Heather. “She showed us how to make mud pies. She made them on that big, old log, while we got mud from the edge of the creek. It was really fun!”
“Maybe it was,” said her mother, “but you can’t eat at the table until you’re all cleaned up. You’re a mess!”
“I’m pretty clean,” Heather said quickly. “I washed my hands in the creek.” But when her mother rolled up the sleeves of Heather’s sweater, they both could see her arms were still quite dirty. Off to the bathroom went Heather to scrub her hands and arms, just like her mother had told her.
Now, while Heather is scrubbing off the mud, let’s stop and think for a minute about what this story tells us. Mud stains on our skin and clothes can be washed off, but sin stains on our hearts are far worse. Sin stains are on the inside, and there is nothing we can do to wash them off. Only God can wash them away!
Back in the kitchen, Heather said, “I think they’re clean now. Anyway, the other kids’ hands were a lot dirtier than mine!”
Her mother looked again at Heather’s hands. “That won’t do,” she said. “Look at those dirty fingernails! You can’t eat until they’re clean.”
So Heather went off again to scrub some more. Perhaps you don’t think that your sin-stained heart is as bad as “the other kids’.” Maybe you think their lives and hearts are much worse than yours. But let’s remember, God is looking at you. No amount of washing or being good can wash the sins from your heart. If you want to live with God in heaven, then He must say that you are clean.
“I can’t get all the dirt out,” Heather called from the bathroom.
Her mother went in to help. She added a little extra soap to Heather’s fingernails and a little more to her knuckles. Then with more scrubbing and a good rinse, she was clean. Her mother announced, “Now my Heather is clean. You may come to supper.”
Mother helped Heather get her hands clean, but God has to wash your sins away. God does it all Himself without our help, and then He says that we are clean. Won’t you let Him do it for you? The Bible says your sins are “red like cimson,” but He can make them “white as snow.” (See Isaiah 1:18.) Then we are ready to live with God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in His home in heaven. Up there we will sing that wonderful song in Revelation 1:5-6: “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood . . . to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever.”
ML-07/16/2017