Cranberry Juice

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” -Psalm 51:1-2

Did you ever make a mess as a kid? Did you ever spill cranberry juice on your mother’s brand new white rug? This seemed to be a weekly occurrence for me as a child. The first time it happened, my immediate reaction was to grab a rag and start scrubbing the stain as hard a I could like the Karate Kid. Wax on, wax off, right? For me, it was wax on, stain spreads.

I felt so ashamed. As I looked around at the mess I had made, I realized that in trying to hide it or clean it up by my own power, I had actually made it worse.

When my dad came home, he wasn’t angry. Well, I’m sure he was. But he did a really good job of hiding it. Probably because he could tell how sorry I was by the look in my red, puffy eyes. My father walked into the kitchen and grabbed a shower caddy full of really intense looking cleaning supplies, got on his hands and knees, and started to press on the stain. 

When we sin, we make a mess of our lives. And when we try and hide it, or clean it up by our own power, we just end up making the mess worse. 

Only our Heavenly Father has the power to blot out our transgressions, to wash away all iniquity, and cleanse us from the sin that has made such a mess of our lives. 

To be honest, when my dad got the shower caddy out, I expected him to hand it to me and say, “Get to work.” Instead, he got on his hands and knees and cleaned up my mess for me. Through Jesus, God got on his hands and knees and cleaned up our mess, even when we didn’t deserve it. That is the power and scandal of the unfailing love of our Father.

PRAYER: God, I thank you for your unfailing love. I confess to you my sin, and I confess that I am powerless to clean it up on my own. Thank you, Jesus for blotting out my every transgression, for washing away all my iniquity, and for cleansing me from every sin.