I stared down at the dirty white coat in my hands. Our sweet daughter had wanted this wool coat, promising to wear it. Her promise was a win as middle schoolers often refuse to wear a coat in Ohio winters!
But white? While impractical I would take the win and buy an at-home dry cleaning kit.
The first week she wore it to school, her friend had placed a cup of coffee on the top shelf in my daughter’s locker. The brown stain on the white wool told the rest of the story.
I laid the coat carefully atop my washer and squeezed the solution onto the provided pad. I firmly wiped at the stain. Honestly, I had little hope it would fade much.
As the stain vanished before my eyes, I was shocked. I worked on every coffee drop. They each disappeared! I noticed other, faded marks on her coat. I kept applying the solution and working the pad over the material.
Some time later, I withdrew it from the dryer and stared in amazement. The coat looked new! It was ready for use once again.
I think most of us believe we have dark stains on our lives that nothing can wash away. Poor choices do have consequences for sure. But they don’t have to define us.
That coat was no longer bearing a dark brown stain. It looked brand new.
When we own up to what our mistakes are and name our sin and then offer to let Jesus wash it away, we too can be white as snow.
Isaiah 1:18 says, “‘Come now, let us settle the matter,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet. They shall be as white as snow, though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.’” (NIV)
Jesus came and died to cleanse us once and for all. Every mark, every stain. The fresh ones, the faded ones, the dark ones and the light ones. He wants to make us white as snow, ‘they shall be like wool.’
Do you, too, need help remembering that Jesus does not define us by our mistakes? Let’s ask Him for help with just that.
Prayer: Dear Lord, Thank You for redeeming me. For blotting out the stains of sin over my life. You cared for them once and for all. You now see me as white as snow, as fresh wool. Help me to stop remembering the stains You removed. In Jesus’ name, Amen.