Scripture:
“If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)
Thought for the day:
Have you ever noticed how focused we are in our society on personal hygiene? Our culture demands that we be clean. I got to thinking about this at a picnic, where the host provided antibacterial lotion for the guests prior to going through the food line. It was actually pretty ingenious in my mind, as we were at a park and there was no running water to wash our hands. Anyhow, my mind started to wander and I realized that when I was growing up, a clean life was a “spic and span” life. Today “spic and span” isn’t enough, we have antibacterial everything! There are antibacterial wipes, lotion, soap, toothbrushes, pillows, sheets, towels, slippers, mattresses, cleansers, detergents and that is just the tip of the antibacterial iceberg. Apparently there are over 700 antibacterial products on the market today! That is some serious germ repellent!
Now here is the interesting part to me: antibacterial products meet the moment but there is evidence that our immediate solution to uncleanliness is actually contributing to a larger problem with what they are calling “super viruses”: germs that have evolved into something capable of surviving our antibacterial solutions. Thus they are more of a threat to us than the original germs.
It made me realize how little of the “big picture” we have. We treat immediate needs without realizing the long term effects. We do that with germs and we do it with sin. We figure that if we don’t do things like kill, steal, or swear we are sin free or at least 99.9% sin free. Furthermore, we think that if we do things like read the bible, attend worship, and serve on a committee we can most likely get that last .1 % taken care of.
The reality is that by trying to control our cleanliness with our actions, we have really only created a “super sin” that fools us into thinking that we are clean when in fact, we have only endangered ourselves more. There is only one way to have a “spic and span” life and it is not through actions that appear to clean. It is through a relationship with the one who does the cleaning. Christ is our key to clean. “What shall wash away our sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!”
Christ is the means by which sin is destroyed and those who believe become crystal clean. Our actions conducted by our own effort create the “supersin bug” and are useless to God, those same actions accomplished in response to a loving relationship with Jesus Christ keep clean the life that serves to glorify God.
Prayer for the day: