But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.
~ Malachi 3:2
Remember the commercials for laundry soap? The latest and greatest vs. the “other leading laundry soap.”
A few swishes of the wooden spoon, or maybe a run through the washing machine and the one we used to love still leaves a noticeable stain. But the new product returns the item to near new condition. In fact after repeated washings, the fibers in the shirt still appear new and spotless!
God is like the laundry man, or rather the soap. I don’t think I ever heard that comparison before. I need to trust Him to clean me, to purify me. My “leading laundry soap” leaves the stain, or even a hole in its place.
The chapter goes on to point out the stains that we ignore, or try to cover up with a well placed scarf, safety pin, or other alteration. We rob God of the tithes that He deserves even when He wants to pour out His blessing. We arrogantly say that God prospers evil doers when life doesn’t look so rosy from our angle.
Yet, God calls us back to a fresh place before Him as His treasured possession.
Revelation shouts it out:
I am making everything new! ~Revelation 21:5
New. New Year. New hope. New opportunity. New life. Same God.
Thank you, God, for giving me new life. Thank you for looking past my pathetic attempts to meet your standard and picking up the pieces and scrubbing out the stains when I fall humbly before you. Thank you for showing me afresh my desperate need for You. I love you! ~Amen
Erin (5intow)
Sixty-six books in a year 