Dirt is a part of life. No matter how much of a clean nut we are, there will be dirt. There will always be dirt. The best we can do is clean it away on a regular basis.
Several years ago, a detergent commercial came out, attacking the ever-present and dreaded “ring around the collar.” What is ring around the collar? Most simply, the buildup of dust, perspiration, and body oil that everyone has.
Everyone gets it to some degree or another. The harder we toil in the sun, the more we have to scrub to remove it.
We sometimes think being a Christian is like having a ceramic coating so that sin slides right off. Not so. Perhaps we could remain pristine if we joined a sequestered religious group so that we had no contact with the world. For the rest of us? The more we’re out in the world doing the Lord’s work, the harder we must scrub away the residue of sin when we return to the environs of God.
People who sit atop their religious pedestals and watch the rest of us work don’t have to deal with the dirt. Those in the trenches are the ones who get ring around the collar. Sin under our fingernails. The scum line in the tub. Hard workers have to use the scrub brush every day.
1 John 1:9 tells us what our brush is made of:
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
There’s our loofah, our sponge, our exfoliating brush: confession; saying to God, “Yeah, it’s me again, and I’ve got ring around the collar. Can you help me out?”
And he does, every time. Remember how he set it up? It’s there, in John 3:16:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Yeah, that’s our God, willing to do whatever it takes to keep us spic and span, cleaned up and ready to do his work on this earth.
It takes regular cleaning to keep our robes spotless, and it’s Christ who helps us wash away the grime.
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Code: FGO.C.14.16.vp.esv