When my son, Paul, was in elementary school, he would come home almost daily with these dark stains on his shirts. They were always at the top, on or near the sleeves, sometimes on the right side, sometimes on the left, and sometimes on both sides. I showed them to him one day and asked what caused these stains and why so often. He studied them for a minute and gave me the usual, "I don't know." I would work and work on them, trying to get out the stains, but often I was not successful. So we just got used to seeing him with stains on his sleeves all the time.
One day I went to his school to eat lunch with him and his class (this experience was always an eye-opener in more ways than one!). We went through the line where he received his lunch and picked out a desert, and then went to sit with the class. Most of the children promptly opened their deserts and began eating it. So did Paul. His was chocolate ice cream--his favorite. Since he is a real good eater overall, I decided not to spoil his fun in front of the class, and so I let him eat it first. When he finished it, the ice cream was naturally all over his face. As I handed him a napkin, I watched in horror as he lifted his arm, lowered his face and wiped the chocolate ice cream on his shirt. Then he turned and repeated the process on the other sleeve! Aha, the mystery is solved. But the stains remained.
In today's scripture, our sin is compared to a stain--dark red, like blood, ugly. The stain of sin is impossible for us to remove on our own. But God calls us to come to Him, confess our sin, turn away from it, and be made clean. Only God can remove the stain of sin from our lives, and He will. We don't have to go through life permanently soiled. God's Word assures us that if we are willing and obedient, Christ will forgive and remove our most indelible stains (Psalm 51:1-7).*
Now when I do laundry and pre-treat the clothes, I am reminded and thankful that God is much better at getting out stains than I am!
Becky
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*Life Application Bible, Tyndale, p. 1170.