The Laundry Man

It's Friday and sometimes (only sometimes) I try to do a little laundry on my day off. My wife does it best and I try to help out with out messing it up or ruining some item of clothing. I'll admit - I am not good at it. You would think that it is a simple thing – just time consuming – but nevertheless I seem to mess something up every time I try to help.

    I forget to pre-treat something

    I forget to put the "delicates" in a bag that somehow has super powers to protect them?

    I dry something too long (which may be happening right now as I stubbornly type while knowing I should go check)

    I don't lay out the right things and I mix the wrong items together

    I do it in the wrong order so that the towels are drying forever which holds up the rest of the process with everything else.

Anyway, one thing I notice is that even when things go right – over time – our clothes are not as brilliant or bright. The whites are a little dingier and the colors are a little more faded and my jeans look more and more like I should stop wearing the min public (although, I could make a case for them now being in style based on what I see out there).

Funny, huh? We try and try and try t get things clean and even though we get the dirt out we still have stains or spots. Our precious whites are not so white even though they have the appearance of clean. When laid next to new things, the contrast is obvious.

Sort of like trying to clean up my life – spiritually speaking – on my own. I can make things look good or "better" but never quite right. If I compare myself to other "dirty" things or people – I may look fine – just fine – but when I begin to lay my heart next to the Word of God as my standard… No comparison. The dirt seems to come alive and the cleanliness of the Word makes the contrast outstanding and obvious. So what do I do?

The beautiful solution? The blood of Jesus Christ. He died and shed His blood – red - in order to wash me clean of ALL my sins. Accept it – God's Word says that the blood of Jesus makes me whiter (WHITER) than snow. Wow…forgiveness of sins that cleans my heart as clean as it can ever get and makes it look new again – "If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation". All my stains are gone – I don't get dingier and faded as I walk this walk of daily forgiveness. Instead, I can become as pure white through the red blood of Christ can make me. And friends that is getting rid of some dirty laundry.