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Now turn from
your sins and turn to God, so you can be cleansed of your sins. Then wonderful
times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will send
Jesus your Messiah to you again. (Acts 3:19-20 NLV). I
will do my best not to be too graphic this morning. However, I’m sure you will
be able to identify with me very quickly. Some years ago I had a deer lease in
Mason, Texas. It was an old homestead that still had a few head of cattle on it,
but other than that, was abandoned. The
old house that stood there was pretty dilapidated, but served to keep us warm
and dry at night. We had fixed it so that we could hook up propane to the
heaters, but there wasn’t any running water. We would bring water, of course,
but there was no way to take a shower. After three days of hunting you can
imagine how good a hot shower seemed! If
you've ever felt real dirty, you know how much you enjoyed that shower that made
you clean again. If only there was a shower that could make us clean on the
inside where we carry the guilt, and the regrets, and the dirt of the things we
wish we'd never done, or the things we should have done and didn't.
Unfortunately, there is no medication, no therapist, and not even a religion
that seems to be powerful enough to remove the dirt on our soul. That's why our
reading for today carries such good news. All the sins of your life can be wiped
out, erased from God's records. God says you can be so clean that you can have a
new beginning. There's only one place where a spiritual shower is available at
the cross of Jesus. This is the
place where every sin of yours was paid for. You carry all the garbage of your
life up that hill, you give yourself in total trust to the One who paid for your
sin on that cross, and you leave your sin at that cross forever. God's promise
is that you will come away clean! In the 14th century, Robert Bruce of
Scotland was leading his men in a battle to gain independence from England. Near
the end of the conflict, the English wanted to capture Bruce to keep him from
the Scottish crown. So they put his own bloodhounds on his trail. When the
bloodhounds got close, Bruce could hear their baying. His attendant said, “We
are done for. They are on your trail, and they will reveal your hiding place.”
Bruce replied, “It’s all right.” Then he headed for a stream that flowed
through the forest. He plunged in and waded upstream a short distance. When he
came out on the other bank, he was in the depths of the forest. Within minutes,
the hounds, tracing their master’s steps, came to the bank. They went no
farther. The English soldiers urged them on, but the trail was broken. The
stream had carried the scent away. A short time later, the crown of Scotland
rested on the head of Robert Bruce. The memory of our sins, prodded on by Satan,
can be like those baying dogs, but a stream flows, red with the blood of God’s
own Son. By grace through faith we are safe. No sin-hound can touch us. The
trail is broken by the precious blood of Christ. “The purpose of the cross,”
someone observed, “is to repair the irreparable.” 1 Aren’t you
ready for a “hot shower” today? 1. Putting Your Past Behind You, E. Lutzer, Here’s Life, 1990, p. 42 |
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