Washed in the Blood.

We entered the old house yesterday with trepidation. College students moved out, their belongings still strewn throughout rooms, gum on the floors, things sticky running down the fridge. Baseboards and window sills caked with a years worth of dust and grime. Seven bedrooms, three bathrooms, two kitchens and one very large attic. Our work was cut out for us. Your cleansing work was much greater.

As we scrubbed, laughed, passed around the sweet baby, what was dirty and rank was becoming clean. Smelled fresh and new.

I wonder at the God who scrubs my filth away without gloves-- with his bare nail pierced hands.

Fingerprints, dirt, smudges, scum. We had removal tools. They came clean. But stains do not.

I wonder that His bloodstains in me cannot be undone. I am sealed—His.

The broken can be fixed, the debris thrown out, the dark can be made light, but nothing can take Him away… “neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” No amount of filth will keep Him at the door. He comes in with cleaning tools. Nothing can separate me from His love.

New students are coming. They will unpack boxes of their own today. Will they pick up a broom, a rag? Will I keep out the cobwebs of my heart? Keep confession on my tongue to prevent dry bones from gathering in my closets? Will I bathe myself with Your word? Will I rinse my sin immediately, or let it harden and cake, so that it must be painfully, chipped away?

Lord, thank you for washing me clean. Thank you for your word which sheds light on the darkness of my sin. Thank you for living in each room of my heart, not hiding away, but opening doors and cupboards—exposing me to Your love. Thank you for Your patience. You cry over my messes, yet forgive them.  You help me, teach me, and make each day new and bright. When I’m at Your side, Your holiness, Your purity rubs off on me. And I can’t help but be a better housekeeper. Help me to keep the scrubbing brush in my hand Lord. Don’t let me live in a dirty heart, dirty house.

Washed in the Blood

Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing pow’r?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Refrain:
Are you washed in the blood,
In the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb?
Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Are you walking daily by the Savior’s side?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Do you rest each moment in the Crucified?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

When the Bridegroom cometh will your robes be white?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Will your soul be ready for the mansions bright,
And be washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin,
And be washed in the blood of the Lamb;
There’s a fountain flowing for the soul unclean,
Oh, be washed in the blood of the Lamb!