stephen R Harrison

When I was a kid, I remember running water in the bathtub in hopes my mom would think I had gotten in it.  It never worked as she was too good of an investigator, but that comes with motherhood.  She would ask, “Did you take a bath?”  I’d lie and say, “I did”, but she knew different.  It’s almost like when she didn’t ask, she already knew I did and when she did ask, she knew I didn’t.  I remember even trying to justify my filth by saying, “I’m not that dirty.”  She would say, “Come here and let me smell you.”  She would quickly point out how dry my hair was and how I did not smell like soap.  Now, the funny thing is, I tried to get away with it again.  I thought I was slick as I splashed some water on my head and rubbed some soap on my skin – not to get clean, but to attempt to fool my mom!  She would catch me and say, “Get back in there and this time, get in and use soap.”  To get clean, you have to get under the water.  There finally came a time where I put away those foolish games.  What I eventually learned was it took more energy and twice as long in failed attempts to fool my mom when I could have just showered and gotten it over with.  I don’t play those games today as I enjoy a hot shower and the feeling of being clean afterwards.  Funny thing is my kids tried that same trick on me.  I just said, “Come here and let me smell you.”  One day their kids will do the same thing. 

As I was reading and studying James 4:1-10 this morning with a group of friends, I read something that reminded me of the shower silliness of my childhood.  James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”  When James said “wash your hands” and “purify your hearts”, he knew no one could cleanse their own sins.  What James was saying is “Come get under the water where the cleansing happens.”  “Draw near” means “to join together”. While we cannot rid ourselves of sin, we must “get in the tub” that is Christ and let the cleansing water of His forgiveness wash our sins away. We cannot pretend to get clean by standing on the outside of the tub.  We can’t get clean by rubbing a little good works on our sin as we still smell like the filth of sin.  We can lie and say we don’t need to be cleansed, but God knows different – and so do we!  There must come a moment where you ask yourself, “What am I doing trying to fool God?  Why don’t I just admit the filth of my sin and allow Him to forgive and cleanse me?”  The cleansing bath of His forgiveness is drawn and available – we just have to get in the tub! 

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).