Lessons from Laundry

Last night I began my least favorite chore of all- laundry.  I try to do it as little as possible, which means that usually there isn't just a mountain of laundry to be accomplished but an entire mountain range.  As any good Type A personality does, I sort my laundry into about 10 different piles that are not only done by color but also clothing type and whether or not they have to be hung up after they dry.  OK, so it is no wonder that Tim doesn't want to help sort laundry.  I have my own system!  Anyway, I just bought a new package of white socks.  They have yet to be blemished by our wonderful Georgia clay and my floors that aren't clean 24/7.  So pretty and white.  I threw in another pair of socks into the basket that I thought were still pretty white.  Boy did they look dingy compared to those new pretty white pair.  I never realized how dingy they really were.  Now, you can imagine how bad the ones that my kids have that anyone with half an eye can tell aren't white anymore! 

This got me to thinking.  I look at me and think "I'm pretty clean.  I certainly am not 'dirty and dingy' like that person."  Therein lies my problem.  I'm comparing myself to another person, not to the One that is truly "clean"- Jesus Christ.  I compare myself to the Holy One, and it is quickly and painfully obvious that I am "sin-infected, sin-contaminated. (My) best efforts are grease-stained rags." (Isaiah 64:6, The Message).  Wow, so even my best efforts are worse than the dingy, clay stained socks of my kids.  That is very humbling!  Praise the Lord that he promised "'Come now, let’s settle this,' says the Lord. 'Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.'"  No amount of bleach can make my kids socks white, again.  Praise God that He makes me white and clean and pure through His Son Jesus Christ!  I guess you could Jesus is the ultimate bleach- he doesn't even weaken the fabric when He cleans but makes it stronger!