Ezekiel 36: 24 “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all
the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water
on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and
from all your idols. 26 I
will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you
your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in
you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
28 Then you will live in
the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.
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32 I want you to know that
I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign Lord. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, people of Israel!
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As I struggled to remove my soiled pants I began to cry. I
could not take them off without making more of a mess. My mother came in and
helped me with my clothes and put me in the tub.
- Many times I have been helpless.
- Many times I have been dirty beyond measure.
- Many times I have tried to clean myself up and the more I tried the dirtier I became.
Like soiled pants, so are my sins. Sticky and nasty my sins
tend to cling to me and make matters worse. Then my sinful thinking says “Take
some of the soiled pants to clean the rest of your body.” Ludicrous is the only
word I can think of when I believe I can clean myself up at any time. Who can
clean me?
- GOD says to me “I WILL bring you back into your own land.”
- GOD says to me “I WILL sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean.”
- GOD says to me “I WILL give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.”
Like a gentle parent, GOD picks me up out of my sinful dirt
and cleanses me of “all” unrighteousness. HE looks at my mess and rescues me
anyway. HE seems me trying to clean myself up with soiled pants and sprinkles
me with HIS holiness. HE removes my idolatrous heart and gives me a new one of
flesh, not of stone. Why does HE do all of this? I mean should I clean myself
up before HE saves me? NO!
GOD says to me “Your righteousness is like soiled pants. I
AM not cleaning you for your sake, rather I am going to do
these things, but for the sake of MY holy name.” GOD wants me to follow HIM, point to HIM and
love HIM. When I don’t, HE cleans me up because of HIS holiness, not mine. HE
gently washes away the sticky sins and tells me to remember my conduct.
- Are you running away from GOD because you are “too” dirty?
- Do you think you should “clean” yourself up before you come back to GOD?
- Can you stop thinking you or anyone else can clean yourself or themselves up at all?
- Will you ask GOD to clean you the way HE wants to?
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