Whiter Than Snow

On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving (which I will call Thanksgiving Eve), while I was having my morning worship, I heard my husband get up to put a load of laundry into the washing machine. Then he returned to bed. I continued my worship until I heard him calling me. He sounded like one of our sons when they were in trouble! “We have a big problem!” What could it be? No fire. No burglary. What in the world could it be? I followed him into the laundry area, and there he began sloshing around in ankle-deep water. The washing machine had gotten stuck in the filling mode. After the machine filled, it did not go into the wash cycle, so the water had been running out of the machine for about an hour. What a mess!

Looking at that water, I could think of only one thing to say: “If God allowed this problem, He has it solved already.” As I helped “gather up” the water, I thought, We are going to have to replace the flooring in the laundry area and the kitchen—not to mention the carpet in the other rooms. This probable need became more evident later as the carpet began to dry, and a certain stench filled the air.

Of course, on Thanksgiving Day, our family came as planned. Somehow, we got through the day. Yet from that Thursday through the following Sunday, we had to deal with wet carpet and then the smell. By Monday, the floor had dried significantly, and the odor was less noticeable. By Tuesday morning, the floors were completely dry, and the stench was completely gone. I could hardly believe it! Then I saw the spiritual lesson in all of this.

Like the water flowing out of the washing machine for an hour, sin—for years—has flooded our lives, and we are saturated with it to the uttermost. When we accept Christ as our personal Savior, however, God says, “That’s enough.” With “hyssop”—the blood of Jesus—He begins to cleanse us. As we begin our walk with Him, the stench of sin may still be evident until the day when we realize that it is finally gone. Thank You, Jesus! “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, KJV).

Mattie E. Johnson