Dirty But Functional

 

Dirty But Functional

Romans 7: ⁴ So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. ⁵ For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. ⁶ But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

 

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Snow was coming down in the frigid temperatures. Salt was used to melt the snow on the roads in this region. Blowing winds and a sloppy mess caused my windshield to become so dirty, I used up all of the windshield washer fluid.

 

With a long way to drive, I had to pull over to wipe off the windshield. I opened the trunk and all I had was a dirty grimy towel that I sometimes used to wipe off oily stuff. I found one small corner of the towel that was clean enough to wipe away enough dirt to keep going.

 

• That dirty towel reminds me of the dirty stuff I do.
• That dirty towel was stained so much, that it seemed like it could never be used to clean anything.
• That dirty towel was resurrected from the trunk and was now made useful to make something clean.

 

Paul explains what JESUS did for humanity. He states that those who believe in JESUS have also died to the Law. In other words, the Law shows all humans are guilty and deserve death. All humans sin, which causes other humans to sin. BUT GOD took the dirt away.

 

• GOD saw my sins and cleaned my heart so HE could use me.
• GOD knows my righteousness is like a filthy rag, yet HE placed HIS HOLY SPIRIT in me anyway.
• GOD allowed JESUS to become the filthy, dirty, blamed thing to die just for me and HE raised HIM from the dead, clean, to have all authority.

 

When JESUS was raised from the dead, HE was given all power to clean those who believe in HIM. I mean, the Law no longer holds the sentence of death for me because JESUS freed me from my sins.

 

HE knows I still sin so HE takes the tiny corner of faith I have to wipe off some of the dirt from someone else’s eyes. HE then takes it one step further. HE opens my eyes and that persons’ eyes to see it was HIM that did all the cleaning. I am grateful JESUS can still use a dirty, but functional person like me.

 

• Do you think your sins are too big to be used by GOD?
• Are you being convicted for the sins you did last night or are planning to do today?
• Will you stop thinking you can clean yourself up and allow JESUS to clean your heart so HE can use your dirty story to help someone believe in HIM today?