That Cleansing Blood

I'm sitting here at my computer after just having moved a dozen heavy boxes and a bunch of computer monitors and I looked down at my hands and they are filthy. The stuff I had to move was more than a little dirty and some of the dust and grime that was on it transferred to me when I handled it.

As I was looking down at my dirty hands, I had an impression as if the Spirit whispered to me that these dirty hands of mine are much like a Christian who has to deal with the world. As the cares of life and the weight of this world presses in on us, we can't come away without picking up a bit of it's filth, at least on the surface. This "transfer" can do anything from depress us to influence our actions, but you see, we have a solution for that.

All that I have to do to clean my hands is to walk over to the restroom and wash them. As I scrub my hands with soap and water, the dirt will just flow away. When it comes to my life as a Christian though, hot water and soap just won't cut it. But there is good news brothers and sisters. We have a Savior, one who died for us and shed his blood on the cross and what soap and water can't handle, that precious blood can wash whiter than freshly fallen snow.

So when the filth of this world is clinging to you or maybe has just got you down, don't go trying to fix it for yourself, it won't work. Instead, go to the Redeemer and one more time and submerse yourself in that crimson flow that has the power to sanctify us.

I'm reminded of two songs that echo the thoughts I have for you today:

Search me, O God, and know my heart today;
Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray.
See if there be some wicked way in me;
Cleanse me from every sin and set me free.

and

Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go wash my hands.

"Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"

Sitting in Sunday morning service this week, Bro. Lord was going through several of the Psalms, and I happen to glance over at Psalms 7:11-13. This passage says how God is angry with the wicked and that if He didn't turn Himself away from wickedness, He would destroy wickedness and that He is actually ready to do this.

While I was reading through this, I had this overwhelming impression of Christ on the cross, crying out "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34). The utter terribleness of this thought just simmered in my head all day. In this passage we see that God turned Himself away from (forsook) Jesus, His holy lamb. Jesus wasn't wicked, but He took upon himself our wickedness, resulting in God turning His back on Him (Isa 53:6). The words "He became my transgression" just circled on the periphery of my consciousness the entire afternoon, and more of the depth of Christ's sacrifice was laid open to me that day than had been before.

Two things I took from this experience. First, when I feel despondent and the cares of this life have weighed me down, I am reminded that I am never really separated from the love of God. When Paul addressed the Romans about nothing being able to separate us from the love of God, I realized that not even God's own hatred of wickedness can separate me from God's love because Jesus took that upon him on the cross too (Romans 8:38-39). So, even if I feel like David, and cry out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?", I know with out a shadow of doubt that even if I feel forsaken, it is just not true (Psalms 22:1).

Lastly, I have an even greater respect for the sacrifice that Christ made for me on that cruel tree. It effects me in such a way that I want to be careful of what suffering I personally lay on my Savior. Echoing the thoughts of Paul again to the Romans, not only is grace not a prepaid, get out of sin free card (Romans 6:1), I want to remember the actual price of grace that Jesus paid. Although He already paid that price, I want to live a life that minimizes the price that He did pay for me.