I was enjoying a good meal with the Rotary Club on a recent Tuesday. But I had two problems. First, I was wearing a nice starched white shirt. Secondly, I was eating spaghetti.
Well, I’m sure that I don’t need to fill in the blanks. It seems to happen to me so often. By the time it was all said and done, you could tell by looking at my shirt what I had for lunch.
Perhaps somebody reading this article today is aware of a different kind of stain in his or her life that is far worse, a stain on the soul. A serious blemish in our character. A moral failing.
Many people try very hard to remove that inward stain, but it remains. I think of Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth trying to wash the spot of guilt away from her hands without succeeding.
The good news of our faith is that the stain of sin in our lives can finally be cleansed. A great passage in the book of Isaiah talks about stains.
“The Lord says, ‘Now, let’s settle the matter. You are stained red with sin, but I will wash you as clean as snow. Although your stains are deep red, you will be as white as wool.’” (Isaiah 1:18, TEV)
The beautiful old hymn answers the question: “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” I don’t pretend to fully understand it. I just claim it and believe it.