Picture by Caprice Miller
“The woman left
her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, “Come and see a man who
told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” So the people came streaming from the village to see him.” –
John 4:28-30
Machines such as this front loading washing machine sometimes
make me ponder the past. Before this
invention, clothes would be painstakingly scrubbed on a washboard, rinsed and
then hung on a clothesline to dry. That
must have taken forever. No wonder there
was a designated day in each home called “wash day” – it would literally take
all day – so I've been told. Today, we
can usually just throw a load of clothes in the washer, carry on with something
else, then throw them in the dryer, carry on with something else, then fold and
put away. Sure, the “washing, drying and
putting away clothes task” can be time consuming and a real chore. But when we compare it to what it used to be,
it’s not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. In the end, you are thankful it is done and
it didn’t take longer than it did. We
usually end up asking ourselves, about any chore in life, “Why did I wait so
long to do that? I could have had this
feeling of accomplishment so long ago.”
It’s funny to think of, but I’ve heard something similar from
people who have made the decision to follow Jesus Christ. And, even though I accepted Christ as a young
child, I didn’t always do things His way.
When I finally began to actually follow His lead, I too asked, “Why did
I wait so long to do that?” I was like the woman at the well running to tell everyone what I had discovered. It wasn't even a “chore” to do so. The real chore was living outside of His path for me. I wonder why so many wait or just ignore the
message of Christ – The Gospel? I know there
are some that just believe if they are a “good enough” person, they will be
just fine. God will give them a
pass. But then we have to ask ourselves
“What defines ‘good enough’?” We all
have different versions of that. We all
mess up in some way. The Bible even
tells us in Romans 3:23 –“ For
everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” So being “good
enough” can’t be right. We all have dirt
and stains to be dealt with.
There are also those who don’t even try the “good enough”
path, they just convince themselves that because of whatever they have done in
the past God could never forgive them anyway.
There’s no use in trying. In
other words, the past has been allowed to define them. However, the Bible says this about that: “ For ‘Everyone who
calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” – Romans 10:13. Jesus himself even assures us - “God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but
to save the world through him.” – John 3:17. So even if you bring the most stained things
of your life to Him, He can handle it.
There are
many who don’t understand what it could mean to be “washed clean”. There are many who don’t understand their own
need to experience this in the first place.
But that’s all right. Most of us
don’t understand how a washing machine operates in order to get our clothes
clean either. Yet we still put our
clothes in with the detergent trusting that it will come out as it supposed to
– clean. The irony in this scenario is
interesting though. It is through the
death, burial and resurrection of Jesus – the shedding of His blood – that we
have the opportunity to be made clean.
However, the process of His death, burial and resurrection was very
dirty and cruel. He was sinless –
clean. But he was betrayed, spat upon,
beaten, nailed to a cross and died. His
blood was shed, but not without cause.
That blood could be said to be the detergent that makes us clean. He was the sacrifice for the world so that we
could have the opportunity to spend our eternity in Heaven with Him. God is in the cleaning business. Allow Him to clean the dirt and stains in
your life. You may end up like the woman at the well as you run to tell everyone what you have discovered.
