Guaranteed Stain Removal

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ecently, I waged war against an unwanted enemy in my bathroom.  My opponent entered by stealth, took up residence in a very remote corner, and gradually began recruiting reinforcements.  After a few days, its presence was very noticeable and it became very evident that I would need to enlist the help of a very powerful ally if I was to rid my shower, once and for all, of the presence of this unwanted and unwelcome houseguest.

  

The enemy was not a person, but a stubborn and persistent presence of mildew that had attacked the grout in my shower with full vigor.  At first, I jumped in and began to scrub with all the gusto I could muster.  However, the harder I worked, the more I scrubbed, and the more effort I poured into this project, the more entrenched the mildew became.  All my effort, all my work, and all my good intentions were no match for the mildew setting up housekeeping in my bathroom.  I needed a strong cleaner, one that would not only clean the mildew but one that would eradicate it at the source.

I went to a nearby grocery store and perused all the available cleaning items designed for the bathroom.  Some promised to make the tile look like new while others guaranteed that with enough elbow grease and patience, their product would make the mildew go away.  It was a dizzying process at best.  I got so tired of looking at various bottles, cans, and cartons.  Finally, I came across one product that made only one claim.  The directions told me to spray the cleanser on the mildew and wait.  When the cleanser had removed all the mildew and its stain, I simply had to rinse the grout. 

I bought the product, raced home, sprayed down my shower, and waited.  In just a few minutes I saw a noticeable change in the grout.  After thirty minutes, the grout was completely clean with no trace whatsoever of mildew.  I was so excited!!  The cleanser was true to its word.  It contained the necessary cleaners to completely remove the mildew and it did it with apparent ease.  What I could not do in my own strength, the cleanser could do with no problem.

Psalm 51:7 serves as a wonderful reminder that only God can cleanse our hearts from sin and make us clean and whole again.  This verse, taken from David’s prayer for forgiveness after his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba, simply states, “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” 

In this verse, David cries out to God to cleanse him of his sin.  David knows that no amount of work on his part, no matter how well-intentioned, can remove the stain of his sin from him.  David knows that only God’s forgiveness and redemptive grace can remove, once and for all, the stain of sin from his heart.  He comes to God with a broken heart, a contrite spirit, and asks for His forgiveness. He knows that when God forgives, He makes the heart clean, whiter than snow. God can do this because He doesn’t simply wipe sin a way, He completely eradicates it and holds it against us no more.

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his is the kind of God we serve.  When there was no way mankind could obtain salvation for himself, God sent His son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for us.  This truth is often overlooked in today’s society.  We must understand that only Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary’s cross can offer us salvation. Only his blood has the power to remove all sin from our lives and to put us into a right standing and relationship with God.  The blood of Christ is the only guaranteed stain remover for the human heart. Have you applied his blood to your heart today?