What a mess!

Due to certain circumstances, I decided to help out by doing some laundry today. I started with the dark clothes: checked the pockets on the pants, loaded the machine, poured in the soap, turned the machine on, and then chilled (waiting for the machine to do its thing).

The wash is done, time to rinse. I opened the lid - everything looks fine - poured in fabric softener, closed the lid, started the rinse cycle. And then, of course, chilled.

The machine stops spinning... time to start the next load.

When I opened the lid this time, there were pieces of tissue everywhere!

I slowly take out one pair of pants after the other. Pieces of tissue cover each one. So I decided to shake them out. As I shook out each pair, the pieces of tissue fly up in the air and land ever so gracefully on the floor. "Are you serious?" I think to myself.

"How did I miss it?! How could one little tissue make such a big mess?!"

It made me ponder the thought that ever since the fall of man, Adam and Eve, we can make one little mistake and it can leave such a big mess for us to clean up. The ramifications may leave us paralyzed for a season, and we soon realize that we can't clean it up on our own, because often times we don't even know where to the begin.

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”.

Romans‬ ‭3:23‬‬

The good news, in relation to my story, is I had the bright idea that I could vacuum up all these little pieces of tissue. But it was not as easy to clean as it was to create the mess that I did. While I vacuumed the floor on my knees reaching to all the corners of the room, I thought about how Jesus Christ came to earth to clean up OUR mess. And I'm eternally grateful for the work He did on the cross! He took our place, He cleaned our mess, to give us another chance of being in perfect relationship with Him!

“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭5:8‬ ‬

“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy...”

‭‭Titus‬ ‭3:4-5a‬ 

The process to entering into this second chance that Christ provided for us, no matter what your mess you may be in right now, starts with asking for forgiveness - through the repentance of our sins - and the accepting of Jesus Christ as Lord in our hearts.

“because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭10:9‬‬‬

“And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭2:38‬‬‬‬

Isn't it good to know, we don't have to clean it up on our own?

And for those wondering, I still don't know which pocket that dreaded little tissue was in! 

side note: all verses in this blog are from the ESV bible