Some years ago, I undertook a domestic project which had been on my mind for over a year now.  The project was to paint our apartment, well at least the living room for a start.

As our children grew from infancy to  the ages when they begin to experiment the things they see others do, my wife and I faced various challenges.  One of the challenges was keeping the children from writing or drawing on the walls.

We did everything from buying them a blackboard and chalks, drawing books and even gave them some of our jotters to scribble on.  Did this work? Well for a few days after that it would seem as if we finally took their attention away from the walls but after a few days, you are sure to notice something new on the wall. I guess I gave up and just decided to ignore the walls until my wife began to plead that we repaint the apartment.



I finally agreed for the painting to be done and one weekend along with a young friend of mine, we painted the living room.  Gradually, the dirty and defaced wall gave way to gleaming white paint. Some areas needed just one swipe of the paint  rollers but others needed up to three or four coats of paint before the stain underneath was completely covered.

As we were painting,  I began to think about  the sin infested life of an unbeliever and the power of the cleansing blood of Jesus. I was under no illusion that the nice looking walls of our living room would remain the way it was in the next one year.  The children were given stern warnings by their mother not to touch the walls or write on it but I knew deep down in me however,  that one of the days, weeks or months following, I would come home to find a dirty print of a hand or crayon stains on the walls.

Isn't it wonderful to know that God doesn't paint us clean when we go to Him in repentance? He cleanses us from within! The Psalmist knew this when he said, 'Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow' (Ps 51:7)

In the Old Testament, the children of Israel offered sacrifices for their sins but after that, they continued in their old ways.  The sacrifices only made them aware of their sins and the price that they should have paid for it, which is now being substituted with the blood of goats and rams. According to the writer of Hebrews, God knowing that the first covenant He made with the Israelites was being continually broken by them, decided to make a new covenant. This covenant was fulfilled in Christ Jesus. This was a better covenant because the laws were no longer written on a physical material, but in the hearts and minds of His people.

Jesus opposed the Jewish rulers in His days, comparing them with whitewashed tombs. This was in condemnation of their hypocritical attitudes. They look beautiful on the outside but were filled with dead men's bones (Matt 23:27)

Real salvation is when we are cleansed from within. The things people see on the outside should be a reflection of the genuine work of grace that has occurred within us. This is proof that we are not painted as 'Christians' but have been washed by the precious blood of Jesus.

Do not be a painted wall. Sooner or later, the paint will give way and the dirt beneath will show through. If however you are cleansed from within, every part of you will reflect the life and beauty of the Lord Jesus.

 

Steve Popoola
© Biblepraise Fellowship Online.

 

Steve Popoola is the editor of Biblepraise Newsletter and the owner of Biblepraise Fellowship Online at http://www.biblepraise.org. He lives in London where he works as an IT professional. He currently serves in the worship team in at  his local church and on occasion, speaks at invited events. He is the Moderator/Editor of Biblepraise Newsletter. He can be reached through His email address, steve@biblepraise.org