We had come back from a trip in the motor home where some of the way was down a dusty, rough gravel road. You might wonder why we put up with the jiggles and rattles of that road, but the end result was well worth it….a beautiful, mostly deserted sandy beach, where the fishing was remarkably good!
We stayed there for several days before rattling our way back to the tarsealed main highway. As usual after several days away, and having unpacked all the perishables, the next job was to wash the bus down. As hubby went around with the long handled broom, I asked if the front had been washed to which he replied yes. So I then asked if the back had needed doing, as it look alright from a distance.
“You’d be surprised how dirty it was,” he said. “When I put the hose on it, the dust just poured off it!”
“Oh,” I said, “It didn’t look too bad to me!”
“Well, it was, “ he replied, “It certainly needed doing!”
This just reminded me of how we view ourselves, We look at others and think that we are doing quite a good job of things, that we aren’t as bad as So and So down the street or our neighbours next door. But if we put ourselves under the spotlight of God’s Word, it is surprising how much dirt we find is lurking in the hidden corners or above the window ledges of our minds. It is no use measuring ourselves against others, thinking that you are better than they are. The only measuring stick that is valid for us to see ourselves as we really are, is the measuring stick of Jesus Christ. He is the only perfect human being to ever walk this planet….the rest of us have all been born with the taint of sin on us. This is what has to be dealt with and cleansed out of our lives.
Even if we didn’t do anything really very “wrong”, there is still the fact that we were born with that stigma on us! That is what has to be got rid of, and there is only one way to do that, through humbling ourselves to call out to God, “Be merciful to me, a sinner!”