The Cleansing and Refreshing Forgiveness of Christ

It’s not my favorite thing in the world, but yesterday I mowed the yard for the first time this spring. A few days later than most of my neighbors, but done nonetheless. The first of some 30-40 times this year, I suppose, although I’m not one of those guys who mows his yard every three days. I had a neighbor like that in Ridgway. His lawn looked like a golf course. Mine always looked like it needed to be cut.

Really I’m just glad my mower started. It didn’t want to, and flat out refused, actually. The thought momentarily crossed my mind that perhaps I could get out of mowing and hire someone else to do it. Until I did the math, and even paying $3.95 a gallon for gas is still much cheaper than paying somebody to mow. And buying a new mower, well, that’s not in the budget, either.

Then I remembered that last year when the Bolen threw a fit, my neighbor came over and jump-started it. So I dug out a set of jumper cables and basically forced my lawn tractor into submission. Kind of like how I wish our puppy would learn to stay down off the kitchen table. Not that I’m thinking of using jumper cables to do the job, though.

This year, however, I’m teaching my 12-year-old son to mow. Yesterday he got his first lawn-cutting experience in by taking a few laps around the yard, and did a pretty decent job. Now we’ll see if his mother will let him take a turn with the weed eater.

Perhaps one of the reasons I’m not terribly thrilled with mowing the yard has to do with seasonal allergies. Someone suggested I wear a mask when I mow, but that just doesn’t look cool. Another reason is all the dust that kicks up and cakes from head to toe. Maybe if I took better care of the lawn there wouldn’t be as much dust, I understand. But it is what it is. I just don’t like to be all itchy and sneezy (my spell-checker says this isn’t a word but I’m using it anyway) and covered in dust.

So the first thing that happens when I finish mowing is that I go take a shower. There’s nothing like rinsing and cleansing all the grime away. It feels revitalizingly good. It’s refreshing. Amy lets me back in the house. 

And isn’t that like what happens when we let the Lord Jesus Christ cleanse us from the grime of sin in our lives? The dust of disobedience covers us from head to toe, and our souls itch to unload the guilt and shame of our sin. But when we repent from our sins and turn to Jesus, He forgives our sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

King David, as well as anyone, knew what it was to be guilty of sin. Adultery. Conspiracy. Murder. By his own account he said his bones wasted away, he felt the Lord’s hand heavy upon him, and his strength was dried up as in the heat of summer.

But he also knew, perhaps better than anyone, how good it was to be forgiven. When he confessed his sin to God and did not cover up his iniquity, he found this to be true: “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered” (Ps. 32:1). You can read his passionate prayer of repentance to the Lord in Psalm 51.

He was refreshed in body and soul. And God let him back in the house.

Friend, can I lovingly urge you to do the same? Don’t pretend that you haven’t sinned. Don’t try to cover it up. You can’t fool God. You need the cleansing that Jesus alone offers. His blood shed on Calvary is the shower of forgiveness that washes away our sins. Yes, even your sins can be blotted out, removed as far as the east is from the west. You can enjoy times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.

The songwriter says it well:

   My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought
   My sin, not in part, but the whole
   Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more
   Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul

Come to Jesus, and see how good it is to be forgiven.