James 4:8
“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
One summer I was working with my dad, brother, and cousin putting new tar on a flat roof of an educational building. It was hot and sticky and the tar seemed to cover us as much as it did the surface of the roof.
If you have ever tried to clean up after working with tar, you know what a hopeless task it is. We used turpentine and solvents that only started the cleaning process; we then used detergents to help finish the job. Our clothes and shoes were a lost cause and had to be discarded. We had to spend the next week getting rid of the final remnants of the sticky stuff.
Sin is like that, isn’t it? It sticks to us like tar and is difficult to remove. Like clothes and shoes on the roof job, there is no way to get the sin out without getting rid of the garments of filth.
I think of the words of the old hymn written by Robert Lowry back in 1876, “Nothing But the Blood.” The first verse asks a question and gives the answer to cleansing from sin: “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” CLEAN UP!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil