It’s not a rarity in our home to wake up to the aftermath of a child’s early morning creativity. One morning I woke up to a child poking me in the side only to turn around and see that his entire face
had been completely painted with acrylics. When I sat up I saw that both of his siblings had also been used as inspirational canvases. On more than one occasion I’ve woken up to a disassembled living room, a disarray of crayons and paper, and I’ve also seen the aftermath of a kitchen full of eager helping hands.
This morning, however, I came out of my room to my oldest son holding six individual bottles of gel food coloring. He had a special idea on how to assemble breakfast and couldn’t wait to tell my husband and I about it. When I came downstairs into the kitchen, my husband had already begun assembling breakfast with the kids. The remnants of my son’s ideas were found all over his younger brother. My 4-year old son had blue food coloring all over his hands. I asked him to wash them off, and soon after I issued the request I noticed that blue food coloring was also all over the front end of the refrigerator. I wiped it down, and then noticed drops of the blue gel on the lower kitchen cupboards. As I got closer to the floor, I saw more food coloring on the hardwood. I followed a trail of food coloring throughout the kitchen and when I turned around I noticed even more in places I had just wiped.
“What is going on here?” I hollered out loud. I called for my children to come over and let me check their feet. Sure enough, my 4-year old also had blue food coloring on his foot. I cleaned it off as best as I could, but sighed when I turned around and noticed even more splotches on the floor. I looked at my hands that now were tinted blue from cleaning up the awful mess. Then I looked at my own feet. The bottoms of both of my feet were spotted blue. I had been tracking blue in the kitchen too; it wasn’t just the original culprit. The blood was on my hands too, or so to say.
Amused by my own fault, I started to think about it in comparison to some of the recent conversations my husband and I had had together—conversations about the place where justice and mercy meet, conversations about being in the world but not of the world, conversations about supporting loved ones through disagreements. In all of my pondering I could feel the Holy Spirit leading me. I started talking aloud to my husband, “I can’t clean up their mess. Only God can.” He looked at me a little cross-eyed, as I had not yet explained what was going on in my heart and mind. I went on to describe what I was learning. I was learning that trying to clean up someone else’s mess with my own hands would only lead to a bigger mess.
Often times I’ve thought that I had the fix or the ability to point someone in the right direction. I’ve judged people’s actions and found solutions to their problems inside my own head. I’ve attempted to state what I thought were obvious ways to resolve problems to people who weren’t always ready to listen. I’ve imposed myself on someone’s disorder and tried to bring about my own definition of order. And, in the end, I’ve wound up covered in the same filth—with their bloody mess on my own hands. But, here’s the thing: only Jesus has the power to complete cleanse someone of his or her sins, just like He’s the only one who can cleanse me of mine.
“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18 ESV)
It’s humorous to me that I was so accusatory towards my children for the mess I was cleaning, when I myself was contributing to the disaster. It reminds me of the verses in Matthew chapter seven that tell us not to be so quick to judge other people for their sins. It says, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:3-5 NIV)
If I had cleaned my own feet first, I would have been a better help to the situation. I would have been able to reflect on my own faults and address my children’s problems with humility rather than judgment.
When I set out to live in a way that reflects the manner of Christ I can refocus my attentions on what is most important, and that is to first and foremost be an example of God’s love to all people. When I walk in the light of God’s glory and grace I’m more interested in pleasing God than correcting a neighbor, friend, or family member. Then real bonds of friendship are born from the place where mercy and truth have met together.
“But if we [really] are living and walking in the Light, as He [Himself] is in the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses (removes) us from all sin and guilt [keeps us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations].” (1 John 1:7 AMPC)
When I take on the unnecessary burden of carrying other people’s sins I reflect the religious ways of old in my actions. Before Christ came, a blood sacrifice was required for the atonement of sins, and the sacrifice would often be presented to or performed by a priest. But, Christ came and made the ultimate sacrifice for all of my sins—for every sin throughout all of time. He eliminated the need for people to be the liaison between God and forgiveness of sins.
“So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come.He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever. Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deedsso that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.” (Hebrews 9:11-14 NLT)
I breathed in with a smile as I wiped the rest of the blue goo off of my feet. This silly food coloring served as a humble reminder of God’s sovereignty, and that He alone can wash us fully clean and forgiven.
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace…” (Ephesians 1:7 NKJV)
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