Reason #758
It's that time of the year, allergy season, and there's nothing like dead grass to really get my nose going. Of course, it's painfully dry right now, and so we're all dealing with a bit of static. In fact, my hair did a pretty good job of defying gravity today. No matter how much hairspray I used, or how many times I ran damp hands over those little fly-aways, the static remained. Thankfully, it's just my head that has the problem. Scout, on the other hand, has a whole body full of static hair.
The weather has been nice lately, and Scout has very much enjoyed being outside. When I come home during my lunch breaks, she can't wait to go in the backyard and lay in the grass. Well, you know exactly what happens when a static filled dog lays on dead grass. And so my entire house has dead grass everywhere. There's dead grass all over my rug in the kitchen where she sits and begs for food, all over the carpet in the living room and bedroom, inside her kennel, and all over the bed. That's right, little trails of that allergy infused grass is covering my house thanks to my favorite little critter who, daily, brings it in.
So I have few choices in this matter, I suppose. I could section off an area in the backyard that doesn't have any grass and confine Scout to it, but that's a little unrealistic. I could refuse to let her go outside, but we all know that'd be a bad decision on my part. I could leave her outside and not let her come back inside until the grass is green, which is not going to happen. Or, I can just keep letting her bring in the little grass pieces she doesn't realize are stuck all over her tiny, static-y body, and I can clean them up because I love her and I want her to be inside with us.
We're like Scout. Static-y people who do a fabulous job of attracting sin. And, we've gotten so good at it, that often times we don't even realize it's on us. We've become immune to it, and we walk around covered in the stuff. Because that's just how life goes. We're flesh, and when you stick flesh into the world, it gets sin all over it. It doesn't even have to try all that hard. But after rolling around in it for a while, maybe kind of even enjoying it, we decide it's time to go back. We're ready to get back inside with our Master, and our sins come along with us. They've embedded themselves into our hearts, into our flesh, into our minds, and we come walking into His presence, daily, bringing it before Him.
And so God has a few options with us, too. He doesn't have to allow us to come before Him with sin all over us. He could confine us to the world and leave us there to be consumed by sin so that He didn't have to deal with us. He could just strike us down the first time an ounce of sin sticks to our flesh, or He could choose to never even give us life so that it wouldn't be an option. But God chose to give us life. He chose to wrap us in flesh, and He knew full well that when He put us in this world, sin would stick to our flesh. And so do you think He is surprised when we come before Him covered in that mess? Do you think He is unsure of how to handle it? Absolutely not. In fact, He knew that would be the case, and so He sent His Son to forgive us of those sins He knew we would attract. He tore the veil so that we could come before Him, covered in sin, and be washed clean. God never minds cleansing His children of unrighteousness. In fact, He wants to do that because He loves us and desires for us to abide with Him.
And so go to Him. Don't be afraid. No matter how covered you are, let Him cleanse you. Every day, let Him wash them away. Let Him purify your heart, refresh your spirit, and help you clean off that mess you've gotten into. That's why He's there. He wants to take care of us, promised that He would, and He'll be faithful to do it every single time.
#758 - Because He spilled His blood so that we could be washed clean... every day.
"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." - 1 John 1:8-9
The weather has been nice lately, and Scout has very much enjoyed being outside. When I come home during my lunch breaks, she can't wait to go in the backyard and lay in the grass. Well, you know exactly what happens when a static filled dog lays on dead grass. And so my entire house has dead grass everywhere. There's dead grass all over my rug in the kitchen where she sits and begs for food, all over the carpet in the living room and bedroom, inside her kennel, and all over the bed. That's right, little trails of that allergy infused grass is covering my house thanks to my favorite little critter who, daily, brings it in.
So I have few choices in this matter, I suppose. I could section off an area in the backyard that doesn't have any grass and confine Scout to it, but that's a little unrealistic. I could refuse to let her go outside, but we all know that'd be a bad decision on my part. I could leave her outside and not let her come back inside until the grass is green, which is not going to happen. Or, I can just keep letting her bring in the little grass pieces she doesn't realize are stuck all over her tiny, static-y body, and I can clean them up because I love her and I want her to be inside with us.
We're like Scout. Static-y people who do a fabulous job of attracting sin. And, we've gotten so good at it, that often times we don't even realize it's on us. We've become immune to it, and we walk around covered in the stuff. Because that's just how life goes. We're flesh, and when you stick flesh into the world, it gets sin all over it. It doesn't even have to try all that hard. But after rolling around in it for a while, maybe kind of even enjoying it, we decide it's time to go back. We're ready to get back inside with our Master, and our sins come along with us. They've embedded themselves into our hearts, into our flesh, into our minds, and we come walking into His presence, daily, bringing it before Him.
And so God has a few options with us, too. He doesn't have to allow us to come before Him with sin all over us. He could confine us to the world and leave us there to be consumed by sin so that He didn't have to deal with us. He could just strike us down the first time an ounce of sin sticks to our flesh, or He could choose to never even give us life so that it wouldn't be an option. But God chose to give us life. He chose to wrap us in flesh, and He knew full well that when He put us in this world, sin would stick to our flesh. And so do you think He is surprised when we come before Him covered in that mess? Do you think He is unsure of how to handle it? Absolutely not. In fact, He knew that would be the case, and so He sent His Son to forgive us of those sins He knew we would attract. He tore the veil so that we could come before Him, covered in sin, and be washed clean. God never minds cleansing His children of unrighteousness. In fact, He wants to do that because He loves us and desires for us to abide with Him.
And so go to Him. Don't be afraid. No matter how covered you are, let Him cleanse you. Every day, let Him wash them away. Let Him purify your heart, refresh your spirit, and help you clean off that mess you've gotten into. That's why He's there. He wants to take care of us, promised that He would, and He'll be faithful to do it every single time.
#758 - Because He spilled His blood so that we could be washed clean... every day.
"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." - 1 John 1:8-9