Tuesday night our family had spaghetti for dinner. I noticed my older daughter was wearing a nice new white sweatshirt she had received for Christmas. I said to her, “If I were you, I would take your sweatshirt off while you eat.”
“Why?” she asked.
I said, “I don’t know what it is about spaghetti, but it tends to find its way to put spaghetti sauce on white, new clothes.”
She decided she didn’t want to get up and take off her sweatshirt. About five minutes into eating, our younger daughter exclaimed, “You got sauce on your shirt!”
“Where?”
Then she saw it. Her nice new white sweatshirt had a small, but noticeable drop of spaghetti sauce.
“I should have listened to you, dad.” She said.
I just listened (with a bit of a “dad, can be right” attitude 🙂 )
Sometimes we play this way with sin. We are warned over and over that sin can happen, even when we think we are good or we can navigate the situation without changing our behavior or circumstance.
“Watch out when you are online…temptations come.”
“Watch out when you are with friends…some influence to no good.”
“Watch out when you pay your taxes…it’s tempting to cheat.”
“Watch out when…. (what is your temptation?)
“I’m good.”
With the same spirit we think it will happen to others, but not to us.
But then the reality hits…Look! There’s a spot!
Not just one spot, but many.
King David thought he was good. An evening stroll where he caught the glimpse of a beautiful woman. “David, you should go inside.” “I’m good…” Adultery stained his garment.
“I’ll have her husband come home and sleep with her. That way she will think the child is Uriah’s, not his.” “I’m good.” Murder stained his garment.
As my daughter looked at her sweatshirt, my wife told her, “Go put some Prespot (a stain remover) on it.”
The stain will come out and the sweatshirt will be white again.
This is a glorious picture of what the Lord does. He is willing to apply spot remover to our sin to restore the glorious purity of our souls.
He probably does sit in heaven thinking, “One day my children will realize I am right and listen.” But, in love, he solves the stains of sins and cleanses us with his blood and covers us with his perfection.
So our clothes are white again. Inspired King David captured God’s work with these words in Psalm 51:7-9:
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
Apply: What danger areas should you avoid to prevent temptation to sin? What spots of sin need Jesus’ cleansing?
Prayer: Lord, help me listen better to your warnings and praise you often for your stain-of-sin-removing grace and forgiveness. AMEN.