The other day, with a fair amount of disgust, I looked at my driveway.  Once again, it was a mess.  You see, right beside our driveway stands a huge, beautiful oak tree.  I have often times wondered how old that tree might be.  I’m glad it’s there - not just for its beauty - but also for the plentiful shade it provides to the yard and house.  Unfortunately, the late frost that we had this spring affected that tree.  The young leaves that had just budded out at the time of the frost turned brown, shriveled and began the process of falling.  The problem is...they didn’t all fall at the same time.  Instead, the tree drops some of them one day, a few more the next, and....well you get the picture - a long, drawn out process of sweeping the driveway over and over and over.  The tree still hasn’t ridded itself of all the brown leaves.

     Recently, during one of the heavy rain showers, I went outside and swept the driveway (Yes, in the rain.  You know they say some people don’t have enough sense to come in out of the rain.  But, that’s another story.)  The heavy rain made the process of sweeping much easier and more effective.  Instead of sweeping the leaves and twigs into piles and then picking them up and throwing them away, I simply swept them into the gutter.  The swift water then carried them away.  When I finished sweeping the driveway in that manner, I remember thinking, “Now that looks really good.”  Not only was it swept, it was washed.

     Thankfully, we have the opportunity to have our souls washed clean from the stains caused by sin.  In the opening verses of the book of Revelation, John reminds us as Christians that Jesus has “...washed us from our sins in his own blood” (Rev 1:5).  Paul reminded the Corinthian Christians that they were no longer stained by the sinful lifestyles that they had left behind.  He wrote, “...but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus...” (1 Cor 6:11.  I certainly don’t want to sound irreverent but when “looking” at a cleansed soul I can imagine God saying, “Now that looks really good.”

     Unfortunately, just like my newly-cluttered driveway, we again stain our washed souls with sin.  Remember, John was writing to Christians when he penned the inspired words, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).  It is a simple fact that we cannot live perfectly (free from sin).  Yet, we can live faithfully and, as a result, receive an ongoing spiritual cleansing - “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).  We need to be careful that we don’t turn back to sinful ways and remain there.  Such is described by Peter in 2 Peter 2:22, “...A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”  One who turns away from faithfulness, is no longer washed. 

     Things look so much better when they are washed, don’t they?  So, what about your soul?  Is it cluttered with the stains of sin or is it washed in the blood of Jesus?