When it snows, you have two choices: shovel or make snow angels. —Unknown
When Christ comes into our lives, He usually comes giving us a heightened awareness of sin. This can weigh heavy on our minds, but thankfully the purpose of this awareness is to teach us one of the great realities of Christian spirituality: We are unable to purify ourselves from the stain of our sin, and only He can heal us of the shame of sins against us.
Sin is a give-and-take ordeal. We do it; it is often done to us. Even if it wasn’t your “fault,” the sins done to you can leave you under a heavy weight of shame and filth. You wish you could wash yourself both from the outside and from the inside… but you can’t. You’re not able to. God Almighty, however, can. He is able to purify us, both from the sins we have committed and from the shame and pain left by sins that have been committed against us.
To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude 1:24-25)
God is all-powerful. We might try to describe that with all sorts of theological-sounding words or with earthly analogies, but the fact is this: He is able to do far above and beyond anything that we can imagine or think. He can even joyfully present us blameless before Himself because of who He has made us to be in Christ. It truly is too incredible to fully understand. What can we do but kneel with our hearts and hands raised toward heaven in worship and thanks?
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, today, I thank You for the amazing grace You have poured out on me. Thank You for cleansing me of my sin. Amen.