FILTHY RAGS

"Everyone of us is unclean, even our most righteous acts are like filthy rags to God." Isaiah 64:6

It seems like almost daily I find myself doing things I regret and regretting things I didn't do. Sometimes my mistakes are so bad and embarrassing that the thing I want most in the world is to do something right away that will cover everything up and make it all okay. Usually doesn't work that way though does it?

We act the same way towards God. Often we run from him when we've done something bad, instead of running to him, and we don't feel like we can return until we have ourselves cleaned up and fixed up again. The sad thing about living this way is that we will never be good enough for God. No matter how hard we try to clean up our act and wash our dirty rags, they will never be completely clean. In Mark 2:17, Jesus talked about how God feels about our mistakes when he said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but to rescue sinners." The problem we all have with being bad is the very reason Jesus came. He came to forgive us of our failures and teach us through his spirit how to live a holy life. Each and every one of us needs his help.

I don't think there's a person alive who's opposed to becoming a better person. In fact, many people claim to believe in Jesus because they think that he can magically make them good. The truth however, is that becoming more like Jesus is a two way street involving not only God's changing work within us but our complete willingness to obey and be changed. In Colossians chapter 3 Paul is writing to people who already believe in Jesus and he tells them to "put to death bad behaviors in their life such as lust, greed, idolatry and sexual immorality". A few verses later he tells the same crowd to "rid their lives of anger, lying, and bad language amongst other things". If the process of being made righteous was instantaneous upon believing in Jesus, Paul wouldn't be saying these things and if claiming Jesus' name magically stopped people from being bad, we'd have alot more Christ-like people walking around.

I think the reason you and I struggle so badly with our sin and the junk in our lives is because we like it too much. We like our pride because it's a way to feel good about ourselves when we're doubting our significance. We like cursing and being angry because it's a way to stand out, get noticed and express a point. We like our idols because they're an excuse for us to get what we want instead of what we need. We like our lust and our sexually sin because they're a way for us to feel satisfied and valued at a moments notice. Do you see what I mean? So many of us want to live a holy life but we're completely unwilling to leave our previous one behind. Many of us are living in two different worlds, stuck with a foot in each and a gigantic life of fake Christianity to show for it.

I like to think of sinful habits like weeds in a front yard. Most people like to mow over weeds for a quick fix instead of pulling them up by their roots and removing them forever. Pulling weeds is hard work you know. Any yard looks good after a fresh mow, even a weed filled one, until the weeds come back at least. But weeds are usually worse the second time and after a while, untended weeds in a yard spread and crowd out anything good until there's only bad stuff left. Sinful habits that are mowed over or dismissed and not dealt with are no different. They will take over a life and spread until all that is left is a bitter, hard, and evil heart. No wonder so many of us "Christians" find ourselves surprisingly deep in sin and despair.There is absolutely no way to train or manage sin without it getting the best of us in the end. You might think you have it under control right now, but it's only a matter of time.

The only way to live a holy life is to leave your sin and junk behind for good. Don't use them as a crutch to fall back on because you'll never be able to walk by faith if you do. Will you choose to leave behind all the things that hold you back from really following Christ today? If you're gonna do this you'll need God's help. Don't try to clean yourself up before coming to back to God. It's no use. Stop wasting time trying to clean up your dirty rags. Start by coming to Christ with your filthy ones and he'll give you a fresh start.