It was quite a while after my dad passed away that I finally got enough nerve to go look through his stuff. There were lots of things. It might have seemed like junk to most people, but it was treasure to me. Books. Records. Size 7½ shoes. Colorful socks. And a whole case of those collapsible hoses (he could never say no to telemarketers).
But it was a sweater that caught my attention the most.
The sweater was one that I had bought for my dad quite a few years ago. It was a dark plum color cashmere V-neck that looked amazing on him. What made it even better was that he loved it, and wore it a lot.
I grabbed it.
When I got home I noticed the sweater had something all over the front of it. Immediately I knew what it was. In his last few months, dad would get sick and his stomach would get the best of him. One of these times he was wearing this sweater.
I thought about trying to rub the stain out with soap and water, but it was too big. Then I thought about running the sweater through the washing machine, but I was afraid that would destroy it. I decided to take it to the cleaners who are professionals at stain removal.
The sweater came back totally clean
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8–9)
All of us have sin in our lives. It marks us. It’s like the barf on my dad’s sweater. We have received a beautiful gift, but sin dirties it.
Some people think a little eyedropper of God’s Word, and maybe some soap from going to church every now and then, is enough to clean them up.
Some people try to deal with sin themselves. They work hard at trying to do better and trying to stay clean, only to find themselves right back in the same old dirty ruts.
But some people have discovered that there is a professional sin stain remover, who is not only capable, but actually lives to clean people up. He’s looks through the stuff that death leaves behind. Silly things. Worthless things. Gross and disgusting to anyone else, but they are treasure to him.
He’s grabbed our lives, barf and all, and has brought us to his home. And he doesn’t just clean us up, but makes us totally new.
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