I’m trying to come up with an analogy for the way Jesus makes us right with God. I thought of mud. Sin is mud. I am covered in it just by living here in this muddy world. I can try to avoid it, but I step in it constantly, especially when I’m not paying attention, because it’s everywhere. Sometimes I just sit in it, and other times I even decide to roll around in it. I can’t clean myself off because of my muddy hands. I can pretend I’m not muddy by putting on clean clothes, but the mud is still there. There is no place I can go that isn’t muddy, and no one on earth that is clean.

God, on the other hand, is not muddy. He is pure — gloriously so. His kingdom glows and sparkles in its beautiful pristineness. Mud is simply not allowed. Mud is banished from His presence. And therefore, so am I.

But this breaks God’s heart because He loves me. He longs to be near me, even though I have chosen to wallow in the mud.

This is where Jesus comes in. God sent a powerful shower to earth. When I come to Jesus, the mud is washed away with His warm, soapy forgiveness. But I have to choose to approach Him. I have to be willing to step into the spray and release all that mud down the drain.

Once I’ve gone through the cleansing shower of Jesus, I can step into God’s kingdom, sparkling clean, into God’s open, welcoming arms.

“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.”
‭‭(Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭23‬-‭24,‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

Of course, I live in the mud world so I get filthy again. I try really hard to minimize my mess, but I fail, again and again. Thank God, Jesus is always available to give me a fresh start when I step through His shower.

Dear God, thank you so much for providing a way to purge all this mud from my life by sending Jesus. I can’t believe you want to be with me that badly, but the Bible tells me so! I believe it, and I am thrilled to be able to come in to your perfect presence of light and love simply by accepting Jesus.