Stained by Life

Don’t you hate stains?  Just last week we had to toss one of my best dress shirts because of one simple stain the dry cleaner could not remove.  She (our dry-cleaner) said to Carolyn, 

“Tell Michael to quit feeding his shirts.”

Ouch.  That’s funny and sad all in one comment.

And life goes on.

And the stains of life still soil our lives. 

I’m reminded of King David’s story.  Here it is in a nutshell.

David was a strapping young lad.  Some say he was the apple of God’s eye.  He was athletic, likable, and a natural born leader. 

Time passed. 

He became King of Israel.  And he was a good King – perhaps a great King.

And then one fine day a beautiful woman caught his eye – Bathsheba.  She was irresistible as beauties go and King David slept with her and got her pregnant. 

His first thought was to have her husband killed in battle so he and Bathsheba could carry on their love affair.  And that is what he did.

More time passed.

Nathan, a prophet of God, confronted David with his sins and finally David came to his sense.  He saw the ugly stain of sin and wrong deeds and what they had done to him and to his country.  His confession is found in Psalm 51 in the Holy Bible.

His words sounded something like this:

God, the one who is generous in love

Give me great grace.

One who is huge in mercy,

Will you wipe out my horrible record?

Scrub my guilt with all your might.

Soak my sins in your big laundry tub

The stains of my sins scream at me all day long.

They weigh me down.

You see, David got stained by life.  He let his desires get the best of him and he came out scarred and marred. 

He needed a good soaking in the tub of redemption. 

Have you ever felt that way?  I have.

Oh, I doubt many of us have stooped down to adultery and murder, yet the stains of our wayward lives still cling to us.

The stench of awful attitudes, brutal bumbles and fumbles, lies, deceit, a bit of larceny and misdirection, and other dastardly deeds still haunt us.  We need a good cleansing trip to the redemption tub of God almighty.

And so we do. 

And we come to God, bowing down, confessing, repenting, forsaking – all the past, all the bad, all the ugly slices of our lives and we lay that horrible horde on the confessional altar of God.

And in verse 10 we read David’s request of God.  Perhaps we need this gentle reminder today.

Verse 10

Create a clean heart in me, God.

Put a new and right attitude in me.

Please don’t cast me from your presence

And don’t take your spirit away from me.

Allow me to experience once again the joy of your salvation.

God,  give me a willing spirit once again.

(Psalm 51:10 – Paraphrased b PMB)

This is a model prayer for all mankind.  When we battle temptation, when we relapse, when we sin large or small, the stain clings to us.  What we need is a cleansing agent.  That is God.

Let him do the job for which he is best suited.

Please watch this encouraging video.

Written in Red - Janet Paschal

P Michael Biggs

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