More Holy than Holey

The laundry. How it seems to mock me. The endless piles of dirty clothes in baskets throughout my home. The mountains of clean laundry, piled on chairs or in corners, waiting for me to get my act together enough to put them away. The random socks I find strewn all over my daughters’ bedrooms. I won’t lie. Although I adore my family, I do not adore doing their laundry.

How thankful I am that the Lord does not get tired of washing me! Washing away my sin, that is. 1 John 1:9 tells me that if I confess my sins, He is faithful and just to forgive me my sins and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. No heart laundering quotas. No bad attitude, like a certain momma can struggle with, about how He JUST cleansed my heart from sin yesterday and does He really have to do it again already?!?!

My heart was blessed recently as I read about the word create that is tucked into one of my favorite Psalms. In Psalm 51, we find David crying out to the Lord with a repentant heart. A heart that was more than a little filthy, being found covered in the sin of adultery and murder.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
Psalm 51:10

In her rich and encouraging Bible Study, Knowing God Through His Names, author Mariel Davenport shares some interesting information about that word create. “What is distinct about this word is that it indicates a new creative act rather than a refashioning of an object; it signifies bringing into existence and refers only to an activity which can be performed by God.” (pg. 37)

A new creative act rather than a refashioning. I love that! Why? Because sometimes I feel like one of those socks I get sick and tired of washing. You know the ones. The socks that have been washed over and over so many times they are more off-white than white. They have holes in the toes and in the soles. They are threadbare and just need to be thrown out.

When I fall into the same sins over and over again, when I have to repent time after time, I feel like one of those off-white, holey socks – washed until I’m pretty much useless. But that’s just not true! When the Lord cleanses us from all unrighteousness, we are made whiter than snow. When He creates in us a new heart, it’s not like He has simply thrown us in the wash to spiffy us up. He has done a new creative work. We are not cleaned up socks. We are like socks that have never even been worn. Brand spankin’ new!

Don’t be afraid to run to Him today for forgiveness. Receive it and believe that He has indeed cleansed you from ALL unrighteousness. We all sin and fall short of the glory of God. But praise be unto Him, by the blood of His Son Jesus, we can be more holy than “holey”!