One More Shower

(07/24/11)

Every night after my daughter finishes her shower; I help her out of the tub, get her dry and send her into her room to get her pajamas on.  One night a few weeks ago, however, Zoe thought it would be more fun to decorate her body with sidewalk chalk rather than get dressed.  The good thing is that I caught her early and she had only gotten as far as her arm… making it so that I didn’t have to give her ‘one more shower’.  As usual, this adventure in parenting made me think about God, his forgiveness, and how often we tend to need it.  Think about it… when the Holy Spirit convicts us, we pray and ask God to forgive our sins and He does.  At that point we can walk around feeling clean and free, knowing that we have been washed in the blood of Jesus.  An hour later guess what comes back?  Sin… may or may not be the same sin; but regardless, it’s still there, polluting our hearts and minds. Once again, we need that shower of righteousness.  Please don’t misunderstand me.  I am not saying that we are slaves to sin.  Romans 6:18 tells us that we “have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” (NIV)  But we are also told that “The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” (Matthew 26:41, NIV)  This lets us know that the battle is between our natural and our spiritual selves.  We want the spirit to win, but all too often we put the natural first; and when we do, that usually requires forgiveness.  The good thing is that unlike myself, who gets weary at the thought of having to give my daughter ‘one more shower’, God never tires of the cleansing process.     

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."  (1 John 1:9, NIV)