Cleansed

“Generous in love—God, give grace! Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record. Scrub away my guilt, soak out my sins in your laundry.” (Psalm 51:1 MSG)

Devotion:

Like most moms, I’ve spent countless hours watching my kids’ activities. Cheering them on through every goal, home-run, layup, and volley trumps any inconvenience: the schlepping to practices, the gathering of gear, even the mounds of stinky sports laundry.

But then my son Will started playing for a new team, and I discovered my sports nemesis—white baseball pants.

I really love watching Will play baseball. But I really hate his white baseball pants.

I have grumbled and groaned at the kitchen sink with a bar of Fels-Naptha and a tub of Oxyclean, scrubbing vainly at white polyester. I’lI admit it, I’m terrible at stain-fighting and I’ve felt victimized by the amount of effort cleaning this uniform has required.

Why? I wondered, in a sport that involves sliding at high speeds through red dirt, would any rational person select white pants? Why not gray, or even better, black? Black uniforms hide all manner of Oklahoma clay. Does this coach even do laundry? Doesn’t he know parents have a lot to do other than wash clothes? I decided I wouldn’t mind putting him through the spin cycle.

As I angrily dabbed at a particularly stubborn spot, an old refrain interrupted my thoughts:

“What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus…”

The lyric was in such stark contrast to my agitation that I knew it hadn’t come from my own mind.

Okay Lord, I prayed, I’m listening. What do you want me to know?

A swirl of thoughts bubbled up as I stood there, elbow-deep in suds. I had a strong sense of my own ridiculousness and pride. I’d allowed white baseball pants, of all things, to tangle me up into a bitter knot of resentment.

My second thought was this, God is not unfamiliar with dirty laundry.

“Though your sins be like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall become like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)

Laundry is all over the Bible. Clean garments symbolized righteousness, and washing clothes was a stipulation of many purification laws in the Jewish Law. This outward demonstration pointed to the inner purity of heart that God desired. But as you probably know, the Israelites defiled themselves again and again by turning to other gods. The prophet Isaiah lamented Israel’s rebellion this way: “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” (Isaiah 64:6)

Thankfully, in his great mercy, God is not unfamiliar with dirty laundry—our “filthy rags.” He knows us completely, every secret, every shame; and it is his desire to cleanse his people from the corrosive nature of sin. The blood of Christ, shed on the cross, has the power to purify our heart and soul. Our part is to turn wholeheartedly to him for rescue.

“Repent and turn back,” the Apostle Peter proclaimed, “so that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” (Acts 3:19) Not only does the death of Jesus wipe away any stain of sin from our past, but the resurrection of Jesus empowers us to live a new kind of life by the power of his Spirit.

When Paul wrote about living this new life, he describes taking off destructive behaviors as though they were stained and ill-fitting garments. By the power of his Spirit within us, we can be clad, instead, in the character of Jesus, clothing ourselves: with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and love. (Colossians 3:5-14).

This means Jesus hasn’t just cleansed us, he has provided new clothes for us, too! And guess what color our “uniform” is? I bet you can guess—it’s white! In Revelation, the attire of the people of God symbolizes their righteous acts, washed white by the blood of the lamb. (Revelation 19:8, 22:14)

I can’t help but see those ridiculous white baseball pants through the lens of God’s mercy these days. I still don’t love washing them—but I come to the task with a renewed desire to come clean before the Lord, and experience the refreshing joy of his presence.

“What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus…”

PRAYER

Psalm 51:1-2, 7

“Have mercy on me, O God, because of your loyal love. Because of your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts. Wash away my wrongdoing. Cleanse me of my sin and I will be pure; wash me and I will be whiter than snow. Grant me the ultimate joy of being forgiven. Create for me a pure heart, O God.

Renew a resolute spirit within me.”

Amen.

Taylor Rauschkolb

Taylor Rauschkolb is an experienced Bible teacher. She co-leads the Crossings OKC Young Adult Sunday School class and teaches Wednesday night Bible Studies as well. Taylor and her husband, Andy, are raising five awesome kids, ranging in age from 5 to 15.

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