Smudgy Stains

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Little Emerald is 11 months now, and though she can’t talk, she’s been communicating the same message since she began crawling a few weeks ago: “Clean your floors, Grandma Midgee.”

Taking advantage of her new mobility, she’s been investigating every corner of my cottage on hands and knees, a cleaning crew of one. But instead of swinging a broom or swiping a Swiffer, she just uses her clothes.

Dirty DudsThis morning while Birgitta was at school, Emerald and I worked on several projects in the basement. Although I sat her down next to a bin of toys, she quickly flipped to mobile-mode, resuming her floor-cleaning program. In just a few minutes her hands, knees and toes were black with who-knows-what, and at that point we abandoned the basement and headed upstairs to clean up.

Until Emerald began crawling, I had no idea my floors were as dirty as they were. It took “contaminating her” to let me know.

Isn’t that similar to what Jesus did for our filthy sins?

DarknessWhile on the cross, he willingly “crawled through” the sin-contamination of all mankind, letting every sin from every person, past, present and future, dirty him through and through. Scripture tells us he “became” our sin. How can we not sit up and take notice of how dirty he became, just so we wouldn’t have to be?

Then, after Jesus rose from the dead, everything changed. He conquered sin and therefore could become pure again himself, as he had been before he picked up all our filth. His suffering was “once for all,” after which he could freely offer an eternal clean slate to all of us.

So then why do we continue to suffer from guilt over our own sin? It’s because we’re shocked by  the blackness of it, just like I was surprised to see Emerald’s filthy clothes. But as we turn from our “dirty deeds” and ask forgiveness, recommitting ourselves to live for Christ, God no longer sees our dark smudges, all because of Jesus. Our sins have been deep-sixed into the sea, and we can enjoy release from the heavy darkness of guilt. What a beautiful cleansing system our Lord has!

  • I lay my sins on Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God;
  • He bears them all and frees us from every guilty load.
  • I bring my guilt to Jesus, to wash my crimson stains
  • White in His blood most precious, ‘til not a spot remains.

(Horatius Bonar)

I’ve made a concentrated effort to get the dirty stains out of Emerald’s pink clothes, but even my best scrub brush and a combination of chemicals have left telltale smudges related to the blackness that used to be.

How glorious that when Jesus goes about forgiving even the darkest of sins, he does it all the way to spotless.

“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” (Isaiah 1:18)

 

I lay my sins on Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God;

He bears them all and frees us from every guilty load.

I bring my guilt to Jesus, to wash my crimson stains

White in His blood most precious, ‘til not a spot remains.

(Horatius Bonar)

Extravagant Giving

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In a downpourI love the word “lavish”. Even the definition is fun to read: open-handed benevolence; giving in great amounts without limit; generosity occurring in profusion; abundance poured out.

The word originally comes from  Latin, lavare, which means “to wash, as in a downpour of rain.”

Although “lavish” is used in Scripture only a handful of times, God’s lavishness threads through the Bible in his actions. That’s still true today, and I’ve kept a journal detailing the lavish blessings he’s rained down on our family over the years, an effective antidote for any ingratitude that might creep in.

The road-map to God’s lavish provision often looks something like this:

  • A need appears.
  • We attempt to meet it.
  • Our attempts fail, and the need increases.
  • We try harder to meet it.
  • The need escalates to crisis level.
  • We realize we can’t meet it and turn to God for rescue.
  • He meets the need lavishly.

A perfect example took place when Nate was battling his cancer and fading fast. Our 7+2+2 children had come from far and wide to be with their father, all except Hans who lived with his family in England. Visa problems and UK re-entry issues made a trip to the States impossible. The story of God’s lavish provision is written up in a blog from that time. (Then God stepped in!)

It seems God relishes opportunities to pour “a profusion of generosity” on his children and is watching us for two things: a willingness to (1) trust him, and a determination to (2) wait for him. We say, “Oh, that’s easy!” when in reality the opposite is true. Both are difficult and take repeated practice.

God knows we struggle to trust and then wait, so he details a variety of examples in his Word, showing how good it can be. One of these (taught in every Sunday School) is the feeding of the 5000. While growing up I viewed this as a nice miracle Jesus did so those he was teaching wouldn’t have to leave the meeting for dinner. Of course there was much more to it.

Feeding 5000+Just before that big picnic, Scripture tells us Jesus and the disciples had been so busy, they hadn’t even had time to eat. We don’t know how many meals they’d missed, but surely their stomachs were growling when Jesus suggested they separate themselves from the multitude so they could rest (and presumably eat). When the crowds continued to follow, their hope for rejuvenation evaporated.

But fast-forward to the other end of the miraculous feeding that satisfied every appetite, and we see 12 full baskets of extra food, one per disciple. Jesus caused it to work out exactly that way (another miracle) not just to provide for their next meal. He wanted to use the leftovers to make an important point:

12 baskets of leftovers“Trust me with your needs, men; then wait expectantly, and I guarantee you’ll see what ‘lavish’ looks like, every time.”

“They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftover bread and fish.” (Mark 6:42-43)

Failing to Succeed?

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I’m a terrible clothes shopper and hate to go to malls. Set me in a women’s clothing store with an assignment to find a new outfit, and I’d rather flee the country.

Maybe that’s why my closet is full of outdated items, most of which are older than a decade. Modernizing is just too complicated, not to mention time consuming, expensive, and sometimes humiliating. My failure rate is high.

As I see it, there are 9 clothes-shopping stresses:

  1. Racks and racks...Giving up several hours of precious time.
  2. Finding a store with clothes designed for 60-somethings.
  3. Getting acquainted with a store’s layout and inventory.
  4. Pawing through endless racks of clothes.
  5. Choosing a variety of items to try on, hoping they’ll morph into a cute outfit.
  6. Squaring off with a full length mirror in a harshly lit dressing room.
  7. Creating 3 piles of clothes in that small space: (A) Possibles; (B) Rejects;             (C) Needing other sizes or colors.
  8. Re-finding the racks of other sizes and colors.
  9. Repeating 1 – 8.

Even after all that, the whole convoluted process may be fruitless, requiring a 1-9 do-over on a later date. It’s a mystery to me how so many women find this process enjoyable.

Today I found myself in yet another massive mall making a third attempt to find a business-casual outfit that I’ve needed for some time. I put it off as long as possible, not wanting to spoil an otherwise good day. Friends suggested I try a place named Chico’s.

Chico'sWhen I stepped into the store, a little flame of hope flickered. A dozen other women my age were working the racks, chatting over great sale prices. Maybe this would be my one-stop-shop.

Our lives are full of things we don’t especially want to do, not necessarily dramatic ordeals but just everyday tasks. We know that if we want to act like responsible adults, we must tend to them. Shopping for clothes is only one of hundreds, and though we might tackle these jobs in fits and starts, for the most part they get done.

But what about spiritual tasks?

Are we excited to push other things out of the way to make room for them? Or do we look at things like prayer and Bible reading as duties we “must tend to?” Do we approach them with eager expectation, or do we see them as non-obligatory chores?

Bag of goodiesToday I left Chico’s with a bag of goodies, but that’s not usually the case after my shopping excursions. More often than not, I finish empty-handed.

When I go “shopping” for more of God, however, I’m always successful, 100% of the time.

“Acknowledge God…. and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you.” (1 Chronicles 28:9)