Wear the Pants

I wore white capris this week. First time for these capris, brand new, and first time of this summer season. Put them on at eight am and wore them all day, without incident. Until dinner, when I dripped salsa on them. It’s not a huge stain, but it will stain nonetheless.

I can try Shout or OxyClean or one of half a dozen remedies, home and otherwise, but even if it fades, chances are the stain will remain. Even if it fades to the point that you never see it, I’ll know it’s there.

Sin is like that. Sin stains. This is why David says in Psalm 51, “Wash me and I will be whiter than snow.” Why wash if we are not dirty? “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

We all sin, and we cannot scrub the stain out no matter how hard we try. But Jesus washes us with His blood. Revelation 22:14 says, “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.”

But do you still see the stain, the way I see the stain on my pants? That voice that whispers, “You’re not good enough. You’ll never be good enough.” – that voice is Satan, and he is lying to you. Psalm 103:12 says, “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

The stain is gone.

I’ll scrub my pants, but I’ll probably never be satisfied, and I’ll always see them as a perfect pair of pants ruined on day one. I may never wear them again, for fear what others will think.

Don’t let Satan hold you back. Don’t believe the whispers that the stain of sin makes you unworthy, unusable, unlovable.

The stain is gone.

Wear the pants.