Scripture
Our verse for today comes from Psalm 51:2, ” Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. “
Background
My three youngest daughters love to go barefoot. Inside, outside, warm weather, cold weather, grass, dirt, pavement. At home, church, a friend’s house, the store, the park, their brothers’ games, my office. Wearing pants, shorts, a dress, a bathing suit, a nightgown. It absolutely makes no difference to them. And it really doesn’t matter much to me, either. The only time it becomes an issue is when they come back in the house. For there have been times when their feet look like they have been playing in tar pits, but somehow it escapes their notice as they are about to track their paw prints across the floor. And so, often their first destination upon re-entry is the tub to wash off the bucketful of earth. I thought about this cleansing routine as I read David’s psalm of repentance, about the girls getting their feet dirty time and time again and needing to wash them repeatedly. But I noticed in David’s case, he didn’t say he needed God to wash the iniquity and sin from him, but rather he begged God to wash him from his iniquity and his sin. And even though this might seem like an insignificant difference, it expressed to me a very meaningful and powerful image.
Application
My girls’ feet don’t have a particular hold onto the dirt that they bring into the house. The dirt is covering their feet and needs to be washed off. But David’s sentiment, and my own heart’s, seems to be that he has a hold onto the sin and needs God to free him from that grasp. And as I examine myself, I find that to be true as well. I need to be washed, renewed and forgiven. But at the core, I need my desires to be cleansed, power washed, in fact. It’s good to wash away the sin. But I want my heart to be purged of those sinful desires and tendencies. I want my heart to react and respond with the love and Spirit of Christ. That’s a cleansing that does more than restore my fellowship with God and man. It makes me more like the Savior who is doing the cleansing and forgiving.
Charge
As we seek Him today, ask God to wash away your sin, and to wash you from your sin. Confess the sin and the sinful heart and be completely renewed.
Rich Holt / Originally Published on : BCWorldview.org
Also published on : Medium.com.
