Getting Rid of Stains – June 3, 2022

[Jesus said] “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.”
Revelation 22:14

Getting Rid of Stains

My mom did so much for me as I grew up, and I will be forever grateful. Of all the things she did for me, there is one task that I am sure was no fun: washing my high school football practice jerseys and pants. First, there are few odors worse than a football locker room. Second, they were regularly covered in all kinds of stains: grass, mud, sweat. Mom did everything she could. She would lovingly scrub and scrub and do her best, but not even mom could remove some of those stains.

Life can feel like that sometimes. Our daily lives have a way of staining us as well. There are things in the past that we have said and done. Things that have left some deep stains: guilt and hurt and remorse. And like mom with the bleach, we try our best to get rid of those stains. We try to forget and block them out of our minds. We try hard to do better and be good. We try to make it up in some way. We do everything we can, but we can’t scrub them clean. Certainly, such stained people like us can’t make it into God’s heaven.

Thankfully, there was One who could and did scrub us clean of all sin. He didn’t use detergent or bleach. Rather, he used his very blood—blood he shed on the cross for you and me. Blood that was pure and holy and able to wash every single one of our sinful stains away. Because of Jesus, we now are pure, holy, and righteous in Gods sight. Our robes have been washed and we now have the right to the tree of life and to go through the gate into heaven.

Prayer:
Dear Jesus, thank you for giving your life in my place and washing me clean in your precious blood. Lead me today and every day to thank you for your grace and look forward to the day when I will walk through those gates and see you face to face. Amen.