Scrubbing Bubbles

I don’t know if like me you are fascinated with those little guys/gals zooming around, so happily clearing all sorts of grime, scum, dirt and entirely gross bathroom fixtures. It’s magical thinking about their dedication and precision, making such a task not only enjoyable, but even delightful!

The thought of how they work is whimsical, but the reality of how much they may not makes me sad. It makes me sad because I so want to believe it then, alas, I still have to get the scrubber for the ring around the tub. Even worse is the other cleaner that “guarantees” no scrubbing and deceitfully turns from blue to white when “ready” to be wiped. The problem is that when the grime, scum, dirt and other gross stuff is way beyond the surface, a simple “wiping” does not work.

Likewise, it’s the same when cleaning the closets of my heart. Wiping my heart just on the outside doesn’t work. It’s worse still when I am constantly trying to use rags filthy with unrighteousness (Isaiah 64:6). For real, consistent, and long-lasting cleansing, I can’t use my own rag. I need something more powerful. I can come close to appearing to those around me as “sanitized” (Matthew 23:27-28) through my behavioral changes, but the reality is different. And even if I am successful in appearing that way, what I truly need is to be sanctified. I need to be cleansed from the inside out. And for that, I need to be covered in red.

In ways I can’t explain with logic, and unlike those household cleaners that turn from blue to white when “ready”, the blood that covers me does indeed turn my unrighteousness from red to white if I accept it. There is a step we can’t skip. We respond to His invitation in acceptance, and we let Him clean it all up. We let Him live in us and through us daily. This is the promise in Isaiah 1:18 (ESV):

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”

And this is true regardless of our past!

“…but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”-  I Corinthians 6:11(NASB)

“But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” – Titus 3:4-7

It isn’t magic, it is love and sacrifice. And if you are discouraged because of those layers of grime, scum, dirt and entirely gross sinful things from years past, take heart! Like Charles Spurgeon you can say:

 “I have a great need for Christ and I have a Great Christ for my need.”