…but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says, "I abide in him," ought to walk just as he walked.

Beloved, I am writing you no new commandments, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word that you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new commandment that is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says, "I am in the light," while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling.

1 John 1:5-10

We have all kinds of products and books that tell us how to get rid of the little stains, drips, and drops in our lives. However, there is only book that deals with the most serious stain of all – the stain made on your life by sin. That book is the Bible. Deep, ugly stains made by hostile words and shame-filled actions. Tears will not touch them. Zeal cannot erase them. At times we are convinced that we have gotten on with our lives and the sins are gone, but in an unguarded moment we notice the stain seeping through. The only thing that will cleanse us is the blood of Jesus Christ.

We may whitewash sin,

but only the blood Jesus gave for us

can truly wash it white.

Our Daily Bread – November 29, 2004